RESOURCES

  Education

Education

Availability of education in national minority languages

The state ensures that minorities can obtain education in their native languages. The Law on General Education states that “citizens of Georgia, whose native language is not Georgian, have the right to secondary education in their native language.” At the same time, it is obligatory to teach the state language in general education facilities, and in the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, in addition to Georgian, it is obligatory to teach Abkhazian.

 

Today, the state finances 123 Armenian-language, 94 Azerbaijani-language, 23 Russian-language and 1 Ukrainian-language schools. There are 417 mixed schools (3 Ossetian-language schools) and among them are bilingual and 6 trilingual schools.

 

In 2007, as part of the State Language Program, Ossetian Sunday Schools were opened in Tbilisi and Shida Kartli.

 

Since 2007 the National Curriculum & Assessment Centre has been translating textbooks into Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian, in order to implement general education system in Georgian and non-Georgian language schools. History textbooks have been translated into Ossetian and Abkhazian as well. 

 

Encouraging the teaching of the state language

 

The Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia is running several projects in order to teach the state language.

 

As part of the Teaching Georgian in Non-Georgian Language Schools program – three years running now – new teaching methodologies have been introduced. This project involves several components:

 

• Development of a Georgian language textbook promoting Georgian as a language of communications. Spike – a new Georgian language textbook – will be published and disseminated in Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli, free of charge. The book is to be accompanied by an exercise book and a teacher manual. Already, the first three chapters covering the first three competence levels have been printed. Armenian-Georgian, Azerbaijani-Georgian, Abkhazian-Georgian and Ossetian-Georgian phrasebooks are also in the pipeline, due in 2009.
• Accordingly, trainings for Georgian-language teachers in Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli were carried out. From 2009 this program will intensify. It is planned to issue vouchers for teachers to study “Georgian as a language of communications” and “Georgian as a second language,” as part of their professional development.

 

Since 2007 the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia with the assistance of the OSCE has been funding public schools and resource-centers as part of the Assisting Youth in Learning the State Language program. The program has seen the opening of Language Learning Houses in Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda, where teachers, public servants, soldiers, medical and social workers, business people and other social groups have been enrolled. Two more such centers are planned for Kvemo Kartli in 2009. They are also due to be equipped with Communication and Information technologies.

 

The Civil Integration of Georgia and Linguistic Problems program has seen the organization of international conferences, with one – on Caucasiology in I.Javakhishvili State University in 2007 – dealing with the study of linguistic and cultural diversity.

 

Multilingual Teaching

 

In order to ensure equal access to education for national minorities and encourage civil integration, the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia has introduced multilingual teaching in general education schools. The Ministry is currently working on the Multilingual Education Document. It is planned to pilot the Multilingual Program in around 40 mixed type schools in 2008-09. In 2006-07, such a pilot took place in 12 schools in Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli, organized by the Swiss organization Simera, with OSCE funding.

 

Higher Education

 

In 2008, in order to create equal opportunities for everyone wishing to access higher education, the Ministry of Education and Science, in the frames of the State Language Program, retrained 390 university entrants registered in Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli and 43 teachers from these regions, in the Georgian language and general skills. In addition, for the first time exams in general skills were also conducted in Armenian and Azerbaijani, as logical reasoning and thinking skills obviously come easier in one’s native language.

 

The National Examinations Center will next year coordinate the work of National Examinations Preparation Centers in the actual areas where beneficiaries come from, allowing for increased accessibility.

 

As part of the Social Grants program, the state funds students with secondary education received in non-Georgian language schools in Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli. Twenty students from each region are financed. The state also funds MA courses for several students from the conflict zones.

 

Minorities are also funded to study abroad by the Development and Reforms Foundation, which functions under the President. Seven students have received funding to do Business Administration undergraduate program in Hungary and the U.S. Another seven have been selected by competition for 2008.

 

In 2008, with the assistance of the Minister for Reintegration Issues and Georgian Institute of Public Affairs, the Foundation plans to send representatives of national minorities to study Public Administration at the Ukrainian National Academy of Public Administration.

 

Unified National Examinations preparatory courses program

 

On the initiative of the President of Georgia, the National Examinations Center has developed a special program that aims to provide equal competitive conditions for representatives of ethnic minorities in the Unified National Examinations.

 

The program aims to create Unified National Examinations Preparatory Centers on a public school basis in Akhalkalaki, Ninotsminda, Marneuli, Bolnisi and Kharadjala – areas densely populated with minorities.

 

In the preparatory centers, university entrants will be trained by local specialists. The National Examinations Center will be responsible for consulting with and training teachers and distributing to them relevant Examinations Programs and additional materials.

 

The Preparatory Program will be available for anyone interested – for students in the final year of high school and high school graduates.

 

A special course will be prepared for every subject covered in the examinations. For ethnic minorities living in their own enclaves, the teaching process will focus on the effective learning of the Georgian language and literature.

 

Professional Education

 

The Zurab Zhvania School of Public Administration was founded in 2005 with the assistance of the President and the state. The school was created in order to implement democratic style administration in governmental and self-governmental institutions in the regions of Georgia, improve the quality of social services, improve the civil service, and provide qualifications to civil servants specifically in regions predominantly populated by national minorities and integrate them into the state. In addition to preparing qualified civil servants, the school also runs a program on teaching the state language, specially prepared for ethnic minorities.

 

The school is currently being reorganized. In accordance with Decree #680 of the Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, a new board of trustees has been created, and it is planned to change the school charter and to open school branches in Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda. In addition, changes in the curriculum and teaching methodology are being worked out.

 

Centers of Professional Education

 

The Professional Education Facilities Rehabilitation Program has been developed and will be implemented in 2006-2009.

 

The program has already seen the following Professional Education Facilities being rehabilitated:

 

• Professional Education Center of Akhaltsikhe;
• Professional Education Center of Kazreti (Bolnisi);
• Professional Education Center of Kaspi;
• Tsinamdzghvrishvili Professional Education Center of Tsinamdzghvriantkari (Mtskheta;)
• Professional Education Center of Kareli;
• Professional Education Center of Telavi.

 

Deer Leap

 

The Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, in the frames of the Deer Leap program, is equipping public schools across Georgia with computers and Internet connection. Minority youth also have the chance to take part in a scheme to create a web-site design and publish it.