Press Scanner
Compiled by Messenger Staff
Thursday, September 16
Resorts full of rubbish (dust)
In his interview to Versia, Vice President of the Georgian Businessmen Association, Giorgi Isakadze, says that, recently, criticism and negativity from government members about business has become common. However, he adds that the development of small and medium sized business in terms of service, is stalling and requires serious improvement.
“The state cannot teach a member of the waiting staff working in a private restaurant how she/he should serve the client, how she/he should behave in front of a client in order make him/her wish to go to that restaurant again. From a pleasant smile to good service, everything can influence a customer, which unfortunately is very rare in Georgia. We ask such questions; Why do Georgians go to Turkish resorts and spend their money there? And the answer is very simple: Price, which is almost the same as in Georgia and their service which is among the best in the world,” Isakadze says.
“It is unacceptable for most Georgians but quite acceptable for any French, Italian or Turkish bar/restaurant owner. They welcome the guests personally and try to make them feel comfortable, which makes those clients want to go and visit those restaurants again and spend more money. We want our customers to spend a lot of money, but if anyone decides to make money in this sphere they should definitely be aware of the service issues,” Isakadze concludes.
Simon Janashia: It is impossible to have a weak economy and high quality of education
“It is almost unimaginable to have a high quality of education when the economy is weak. It is impossible for a teacher to have a salary of GEL 70 and, in that school, to have high level of education. Nowadays, being a teacher is a very unpopular profession. Whereas in Finland, for example, almost every child wants to become a teacher because of its prestigious status and good living conditions,” professor of Ilia University Simon Janashia said in his interview to Versia.
On the question of whether recent teachers' exam results, which were incredibly low, mean that teachers are not professional, Janashia answers that most of the teachers were not prepared for those exams. (10 000 teachers took part in the exams, of which 5000 failed). "They were made to take part in exams by school directors. The state, in this case, was interested in attracting as many teachers as possible, in order for this process not to have failed. Teachers have low qualifications as they should have, but the problem is that they lack motivation due to their low salaries. A low level of education is generally a product of the system itself,” Janashia said.
In his interview to Versia, Vice President of the Georgian Businessmen Association, Giorgi Isakadze, says that, recently, criticism and negativity from government members about business has become common. However, he adds that the development of small and medium sized business in terms of service, is stalling and requires serious improvement.
“The state cannot teach a member of the waiting staff working in a private restaurant how she/he should serve the client, how she/he should behave in front of a client in order make him/her wish to go to that restaurant again. From a pleasant smile to good service, everything can influence a customer, which unfortunately is very rare in Georgia. We ask such questions; Why do Georgians go to Turkish resorts and spend their money there? And the answer is very simple: Price, which is almost the same as in Georgia and their service which is among the best in the world,” Isakadze says.
“It is unacceptable for most Georgians but quite acceptable for any French, Italian or Turkish bar/restaurant owner. They welcome the guests personally and try to make them feel comfortable, which makes those clients want to go and visit those restaurants again and spend more money. We want our customers to spend a lot of money, but if anyone decides to make money in this sphere they should definitely be aware of the service issues,” Isakadze concludes.
Simon Janashia: It is impossible to have a weak economy and high quality of education
“It is almost unimaginable to have a high quality of education when the economy is weak. It is impossible for a teacher to have a salary of GEL 70 and, in that school, to have high level of education. Nowadays, being a teacher is a very unpopular profession. Whereas in Finland, for example, almost every child wants to become a teacher because of its prestigious status and good living conditions,” professor of Ilia University Simon Janashia said in his interview to Versia.
On the question of whether recent teachers' exam results, which were incredibly low, mean that teachers are not professional, Janashia answers that most of the teachers were not prepared for those exams. (10 000 teachers took part in the exams, of which 5000 failed). "They were made to take part in exams by school directors. The state, in this case, was interested in attracting as many teachers as possible, in order for this process not to have failed. Teachers have low qualifications as they should have, but the problem is that they lack motivation due to their low salaries. A low level of education is generally a product of the system itself,” Janashia said.