The Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia is actively implementing student support programs to increase access to higher education. Among them are several programs for young people living in the occupied territories. One of them is the Dimitri Gulia and Kosta Khetagurov Scholarships, implemented by the Ministry of Education and Science together with the Office of the State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality since 2018 and designed for students from the occupied territories who show the best results in the Unified National Examinations.

Ana Barbakadze became a 2021 scholarship student at Ilia State University. The scholarship holder graduated from the secondary school in the village of Sinaguri in the Java district of the occupied Tskhinvali region and successfully passed the Unified National Examinations in the territory controlled by the central government. Ana Barbakadze will receive 300 GEL monthly as a scholarship for four academic years. 

State Minister, Tea Akhvlediani and Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Nunu Mitskevichi addressed the audience. In her address, Nunu Mitskevichi stressed that the support of young people in terms of education is one of the main priorities of the Ministry and ongoing projects in this direction will continue in the future. The Deputy Minister personally congratulated Ana Barbakadze on receiving the scholarship and wished her success in her future endeavours. 

Tea Akhvlediani spoke about the priorities of the reconciliation and engagement policy, with a special emphasis on supporting and empowering young people, and stressed the importance of facilitated access to quality education for young people living in the occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions. The State Minister emphasized the role of youth involvement in the peace process and wished them success in their studies and further activities.