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Do you welcome a protest rally to be held in front of the Azeri Embassy?

Rezonansi writes that according to the Georgian guard's information, Azeri border guards are not in David Gareji territory. However, a rally had been planned in front of the Azeri Embassy before that news was released. The paper asked public figures about their opinion and whether the rally should be held in front of the Azeri embassy or not.

Givi Berikashvili, actor: “As long as I can remember, David Gareji has always been Georgia’s cultural heritage. As for the rally, I support it and welcome it. I think both sides should sit together and through the negotiations they should resolve the problem. In addition, we do not have bad relations with Azerbaijan and Azeris also live in our country. As for Gareji, this is without a doubt Georgia's.”

Composer Marika Kvaliashvili: I do not know what kind of talks those two countries [Georgia and Azerbaijan] have had and what is happening in David Gareji in reality, however it is known that this is Georgia's cultural heritage and if there is no other way to defend it, I welcome the rally.”

Gigi Tevzadze, Rector of Ilia University: there are a lot of misunderstandings around the David Gareji issue, as they think that the whole monastery complex is in Azeri territory, but it isn't true.

As for the rally in front of the embassy, I do not welcome it because this is a border problem which cannot be resolved though demonstrations. This is an issue between two countries relations and it should be addressed on a diplomatic level.



National Assessment Held in Georgian in Ethnic Minority Schools

The National Assessment, organized by the National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement of MES, was held in Georgia for first graders at non-Georgian public schools, 24 Hours reports.

The National Assessment is a far-reaching research project aimed at assessing the quality of general education in Georgia. The goal of the National Assessment held among the first-graders was to determine the success of the 2011-2012 reforms at non-Georgian public schools.

The project Georgia for Future Success, initiated by the president is being successfully carried out in the regions populated by ethnic minorities. The project is designed to help non-Georgian students learn the official language by sending Georgian volunteer teachers to these regions. In order to strengthen Georgian language education, special Georgian textbooks were created for this project.

Schools were randomly selected throughout Georgia. 1,000 first graders attending 73 non-Georgian schools, their parents, 100 Georgian language teachers, 100 Georgian volunteer-teachers and 73 school principals took part in the National Assessment.