Armenian and Azeri school leavers will need to pass only General Skills exams

Armenian and Azeri school leavers who plan to attend Georgian universities will need to pass only one exam, a General Skills exam, in the National Exams from next year.

On November 5, at a sitting of the Committee on Education, Science and Culture, amendments to the Georgian Law on Higher Education was discussed. The bill aims to increase the accessibility of higher education in Georgia for those citizens who pass the general skills exam in the Azeri and Azerbaijani languages. It specifies the creation of a programme of Georgian language training which will provide students with the skills and knowledge necessary for higher education. Reportedly this programme will be financed by the state, its essential condition being that the students collect 60 credits after a one year course and continue to study in Georgian.

The Committee also considered the Bill on amendments to the Georgian Law on General Education initiated by the Georgian Government, at a second reading. Both bills were presented by Maia Kopaleishvili, Deputy Minister of Education and Science. Nika Gvaramia, Minister of Education and Science, participated in the meeting as well. The Committee supported submitting the bills to a plenary session.

Ruling party MP Khatuna Ochiauri also presented a bill of amendments to the Georgian Law on General Education for a first reading. This bill aims to regulate and simplify the rules on directing property transferred from the state to the public schools. Specifically, if state property is transferred to schools in the Autonomous Republics, the right to decide what to do with it must rest with the Ministry of Education of the Autonomous Republics and not the Ministry of Education of Georgia. The Committee unanimously supported this change.