Georgia has 16, 406 pension-age teachers
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Thursday, June 20
Georgia has 16, 406 teachers in their pension age, Georgian Education Ministry reports, while the total number of teachers in Georgian schools is 64,329.
More than 6,000 teachers decided to leave schools in May after the Georgian Education Ministry offered a two-year salary in advance if they chose to quit.
Education Minister Mikheil Batiahsvili says that the teachers in their pension age, who have no desire to pass exams and upgrade their qualification, can receive the money as a “one-time prize” and leave the system.
Such teachers are also able to preserve their state-funded health insurance vouchers.
Batiahsvili believes that the 21st century has its high demands in education, and teachers must respond to them.
Batiashvili, who announced the second stage of education reform earlier this year, said that teachers with high-qualification and motivation are in much need.
“The salaries of all senior, leader and mentor teachers [teachers with higher status based on passed exams and achievements at school] will increase by 150 GEL [54 USD], and more and the increase will continue in all following years. The average salary of teachers must reach at least 1,500 GEL [543 USD] in 2022,” Batiashvili said.
Salaries of resource centres, school directors, and the school administration staff will also increase.
An average salary of teachers in Georgia for now is 700-800 GEL, which is just over 250-300 USD.
The pension age for women in Georgia is 60 and for men-65.
