LEBANON (Aztag)–Armenian Caucus representatives of the Lebanese Parliament Sebouh Hovnanian and Abraham Dedeyan met with Prime Minister Rafik Hariri Thursday and presented him with two proposals signed by Hovnanian–Dedeyan–Khatchig Babigian H agop Choukhadarian–Yeghia Jerejian–and George Kasardji.
The first proposal stated that the law on education adopted by the Lebanese government on October 5–1990 did not provide details on the instruction of Armenian and Armenian history. The proposal suggested the following clauses to be added to the law:
1. In Armenian schools which offer an American education–the second language offered should be Armenian instead of French.
2. In Armenian schools which offer a French education–the second language offered should be Armenian instead of English.
All lessons in the second language at Armenian schools will therefore be in Armenian.
3. It is also possible to offer Armenian language classes as one of the weekly four elective classes which are usually held for physical education–art and other such classes.
The second proposal submitted by the Armenian parliamentarians suggested that Armenian language be offered at Lebanese state universities–as are Farsi–German and Greek.
Hariri positively assessed the proposals of the Armenian Caucus and urged the delegation to forward the proposals to Education Minister J. Obeydi and Higher Education and Culture Minister F. Hbeyshi. He assured the delegation that the matter will soon be discussed by the Lebanese government and that positive results could be anticipated.