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11 Thousand Students Fail in School Leaving Exams in Georgia

By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, June 1
11,000 high school students out of total 49,000 failed to pass school final exams, which means that every fifth student failed in exams.

Mathematics and foreign language tests turned out to be the hardest for students. 12% of examinees failed in Maths exam and 12% -in foreign language. 3% of students could not pass in Georgian language and 4%- in history.

The National Center for Examinations explains that among 11 thousand students who have failed to complete the school and receive certificates, are the students who failed last year too. In 2017, up to 11,000 students failed the school-leaving exams.

The Deputy Head of the National Center for Examinations Iva Imnadze says that the exams were held in 1500 schools throughout Georgia. He said some subjects are particularly difficult for students.

Education policy specialists say that the detailed data of failed students is much alarming. The education experts say these exams revealed that education system in the country is faulty and needs to be reformed.

“In Samtskhe-Javakheti 38% of students failed in the exams while in Kvemo Kartli the indicator is 52%. Tbilisi and other big cities have better results,” education expert and scholar Shalva Tabatadze stated, adding that the results are “alarming” in non-Georgian schools.

Expert Rezo Apkhazava says the failed students did not have even minimal competence to pass the exams, adding the threshold is very low and more examinees should have been able to pass the exams.

“If the students did not have private tutors in nearly every subject, which is so common in Georgia nowadays, the results would be even worse,” he stressed.

Out of the failed 11,000 students, 2410 planned to take Unified National Exams, which are a necessary step to get into a university or higher education institution.