The Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, Mikheil Chkhenkeli, who is on a working visit to the United States of America, held a meeting with the students of Davis Centre’s Kartvelian Studies program at Harvard University. The meeting was attended by Stephen Jones, the head of the Kartvelian studies program at the Davis Center of Harvard University.

Owing to the initiative of the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili, with the financial efforts of the Government of Georgia, for the first time in the history of the United States of America, the program of Kartvelian Studies was launched at the Davis Centre at Harvard University. The program contributes to the education of a new generation of students, who will be supporters of research and disseminators of knowledge about Georgia not only in the scientific and intellectual circles of the United States of America, but also in the world.

During the meeting with the students at Harvard University, Mikheil Chkhenkeli addressed the audience and spoke about the importance of having a Kartvelology program at Harvard University's Davis Centre. The minister also drew attention to the implementation of the Georgian language learning course within the framework of the program, which will help students to learn the Georgian language and improve their existing knowledge.

The meeting was held in question-answer format. Students had the opportunity to receive information from the minister himself on specific issues of interest to them. The students at Harvard thanked Mikheil Chkhenkeli for the interesting meeting and for promoting the development of the Kartvelian studies program.

Further, within the scope of Minister’s visit to Harvard, Mikheil Chkhenkeli also attended the screening of the film "Long Live the Queen" directed by Tatia Skhirtladze. The screening was held under the auspices of the Kartvelology program. The film tells the story of four legendary Georgian women chess players who made women's chess equal to men's chess on the international arena.

After the screening has concluded, Mikheil Chkhenkeli spoke to the audience about the merits of outstanding Georgian female chess players. The minister also introduced them to the decision of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, according to which chess will be studied as a compulsory subject in Georgian schools from the first grade starting from the 2022-2023 academic year. The inauguration ceremony for the Davis Centre’s Kartvelology program was held at the Harvard New York Club on September 22, 2021.