The Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia - Mikheil Chkhenkeli participated in the UNESCO-organized online ministerial "COVID-19 and Open Science". The main goal of the conference was to discuss effective ways to prevent the spread of the new Coronavirus, declared pandemic, in conjunction with sharing experience of different countries in this regard.

The Ministerial was opened by UNESCO Director-General - Audrey Azoulay. The Director-General spoke about the crucial role of science in the management of the coronavirus pandemic. After the presentation, the Ministers shared their countries' experiences in the fight against the virus.

Mikheil Chkhenkeli: “I would like to thank you for organizing the first virtual ministerial in history that will be of great benefit to each participating country and to the advancement of science in general. Science indeed has no boundaries and the exchange of scientific ideas is crucial to overcome the challenges facing the world today.”

Mikheil Chkhenkeli briefed the Ministers on the challenges facing the Georgian education system and introduced them with different ways to tackle them. The Minister noted that in order to ensure a continuous process of education for students outside the classroom, the entire education system has switched to distance learning. He also spoke about the new project – Teleskola, launched in cooperation with the Public Broadcaster, already receiving positive feedback from the general public. Classes are taught by experienced teachers in various subjects, giving access to a wide range of lessons, whether the students have access to the Internet.

Mikheil Chkhenkeli offered UNESCO to perhaps organize an online conference of Ministers of Education, so that countries could share their experiences in this area as well.

The Scientific Coalition has agreed that the cooperation of international innovation and scientific circles is crucial in overcoming the world's greatest challenge - the new coronavirus pandemic. The online ministerial, hosted by Microsoft Teams, was attended by representatives from over 100 countries, including more than 90 ministers of science and world-renowned Nobel laureates.