Education system bribes
Higher education
Since during the Soviet times, the higher education institutions
have been corrupt. A large chunk of the lecturers would accept 'gifts'
in order to give a passing grade to students. That was after the
student was accepted. Getting into a university or another higher
education establishment required gifts as well.
A certain percentage of students would get in based on their
academic achievements because otherwise the whole concept of the
educational system would collapse. The rest were admitted based on
the students' relatives' connections and/or gifts. This was more
prevalent in institutions that were lower on the scale of social
importance such as the the ones producing teachers (Mankavarjakan)
or foreign language experts. And since the majority of the students
were female, it was a good opportunity for the socially ambitious
parents to make sure that their daughter had a diploma and grab a
better son-in-law.
This continues to be true currently as well. It is more widespread
and openly acknowledged by the government, and everybody knows about
it thanks to the free press.
Other schools
The lower education system did not have bribes as such but gifts
like flowers or chocolates were acceptable in exchange for a better
grade. But at the time it is not only acceptable but it is required
- the kids have to give gifts to their teachers and there are well
known monetary amounts for each event. Of course, the parents do not
like the state of the affairs but everybody continues to comply with
the system. Unlike higher education, the secondary education
involves all the layers of the society, and the more socially
vulnerable families have to make sacrifices in order to afford the
participation of their kids in such gift giving occasions.
The corruption does not end here. There is no concept of uniform
dress code in the public school system (probably in protest to the
Soviet system). This puts pressure for kids to keep up with their
peers. In a lot of cases, the teachers, instead of curbing such
competition, actually encourage it by paying more attention to the
better dressed students.
It is unfortunate that these kind of teachers are allowed to teach
the kids but they are the product of the system (see the mention of
Mankavarjakan above).
Customs bribes
Quite a few Armenians make
their living by importing goods from Turkey, the Arab
countries or Georgia. Since these usually are small time
traders, they are vulnerable to the customs officers. If
they pay the necessary import duties, they will have
little or no profit from their trade as they won't be
able to compete with the big boys ( who already have
economies of scale with bribery costs). So these small
traders pay their share of bribes to the customs police.
Working within the law does not make sense unless
everybody else does it. Operating within the law is
discouraged by the government as witnessed by the recent
prosecution of the coffee importing company management
who refused to pay bribes.
Please feel free to comment on your experiances with and
the traditions of customs police bribery.