Polling by CRRC Georgia suggests parents are happy with the quality of schooling in Georgia, but international testing scores and reliance on private tutors suggest otherwise.
Georgia axes secondary school exams in controversial education reforms
(Georgia's Ministry of Education)
Georgia’s education ministry has announced plans to scrap standardised graduation testing for secondary school students and to drop one of the four Unified National Exams — the standardised entrance exams for Georgian universities. [Read more…]
Georgia’s education initiative for Abkhazia leaves Gali students out in the cold
Russian-language textbooks used by Gali pupils issued in Moscow (Nino Gogua /OC Media)
With their new peace initiative, ‘A Step to a Better Future’, Georgia’s government hopes to tempt students from Abkhazia and South Ossetia to enrol in Georgian universities by letting them sit entrance exams in their ‘native language’. But for Abkhazia’s ethnic Georgians in Gali, banned from studying in Georgian there and whose Abkhaz language skills are far from native, the initiative does little to help.
Talking about sex: an unspoken topic in Armenia
(Armine Avetisyan /OC Media)
Sex is a taboo topic in Armenia, and as such, many children turn to the internet for answers about this and other intimate topics. While schools have introduced basic lessons on living a ‘healthy lifestyle’ that touch on the topic, most experts agree they are not fit for purpose. [Read more…]
Top-level sackings at education ministry as Georgia unveils reforms
Education Minister Mikheil Batiashvili (Facebook)
Six senior figures at Georgia’s Ministry of Education were dismissed on Monday just 10 days before the start of the new term. On Friday, Minister Mikheil Batiashvili was joined by Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze to unveil the government’s education shake-up. [Read more…]
Georgian ‘Gülen-connected’ university banned from taking in new students
Student protest in support of IBSU on 21 August (Dato Parulava /OC Media)
The Education Ministry of Georgia has banned the International Black Sea University from taking in new students for one year, raising questions about possible political motives amidst the Turkish ambassador’s recent allegations that the Gülen movement ‘still has its university in Georgia’. The university denies any connection to the movement.
Analysis | Trust in Georgia’s education system erodes with exposure to it
Tbilisi State University (tsu.ge)
CRRC-Georgia examines how the more time a person has spent in formal education in Georgia, the less they trust it. [Read more…]
MPs grill investigators over Khorava Street murders
Otar Kakhidze, Sergi Kapanadze and Elene Khoshtaria (Mzia Saganelidze - RFE/RL)
Investigators from the Khorava Street murder case faced questioning from MPs on Monday, into alleged failures by the investigation. A parliamentary commission was set up in the wake of large street protests in Tbilisi, which followed the partial acquittal of the suspects in the case and allegations the investigation was mishandled. [Read more…]
UNM officially joins anti-government protests in Tbilisi
UNM MP Nika Melia (Mari Nikuradze/OC Media)
The opposition United National Movement Party (UNM), as well as two other minor parties, has announced they are officially joining anti-government protests currently taking place in Tbilisi. UNM MP Nika Melia addressed crowds gathered outside parliament after meeting with protest leaders and said the protests would resume on Sunday at 18:00 where they will announce a plan for how to continue [Read more…]
Georgia’s chief prosecutor resigns amidst mass protests
Zaza Saralidze (Dato Parulava/OC Media)
Georgia’s chief prosecutor, Irakli Shotadze, has resigned, following large protests in Tbilisi. The protests have been sparked by what critics call a ‘compromised investigation’ into the fatal stabbing of two teenagers outside a school in Tbilisi in December. On Thursday, Tbilisi City Court found one teenager guilty of killing Levan Dadunashvili, while another was found guilty of the lesser charge of attempted murder on Davit Saralidze, leaving open the question of who killed him. [Read more…]
