Mikheil Batiashvili, the Minister of
Education, Science, Culture and Sport spoke about the cooperation with the stakeholder
local and international organizations at the Plenary Sitting of the Parliament.
Parliament is in active cooperation with the Ministry to reform the current education
system.
According to the Minister, the decision
to cancel the exams only came through after a thorough consultation, which
included both Georgian and foreign experts and representatives and leaders of
the education sector:
"There are rumours circulating
regarding the number of organizations who were a part of this decision, here we
will bring only a part of the organizations involved in the consultation. These
were the following organizations who took active part in the consultation
procedures: "Training and Consulting" Center, "Civic Development
Institute", "Center for Cultural Relations and Initiatives",
"Education for All", School Administration, School Teachers
Associations. In addition, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, USAID,
Millennium Challenge Corporation, UNICEF, EU Delegation to Georgia, American
Leadership fund, Swiss National fund and various funds, Microsoft, and many
more were a part of this decision.
Consultations were held with Georgian
universities, teachers, literally hundreds of people input their ideas and
recommendations during the final phase. I think that our vision is oriented
towards a better outcome, far from politics, aimed at raising the quality of
education. The committee meeting is scheduled to be held, where each deputy and
the head of the the educational institution will participate and say their part.
Our goal is to provide close cooperation with all organizations and have deep,
joint consultations with them. The final document, will soon become a strategic
document and available to public”. Stated Mikheil Batiashvili.
According to the Minister, the results
of the survey will be posted on the official website of the Ministry on Monday which
depics what the Ministry relied upon. The results of the final exams have been
worsening over the years, hence the bold decision to cancel them.