Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, Dimitri Shashkini introduced innovations of 2010-2011 academic years to the journalists at the briefing held in the office of the newspaper Prime Time. Minister thoroughly answered journalists’ questions.

By the announcement of the Minister, the school year will be divided in semesters instead of trimesters. From now on, school will begin on September 15 throughout the whole Georgia. The first semester will be finished on December 24. The 1^st and the 12^th graders will finish studying on May 20, other school children – on June 15. According to Dimitri Shashkini, all school children of vulnerable families will be provided with the free textbooks. 3,000 first graders of pilot schools (all first graders of Batumi, Zugdidi, Tserovani, Mestia schools and several first graders of Tbilisi and Kutaisi schools) will be presented with the netbooks by the President. Special educational games, uploaded in these netbooks will assist the school children to study Georgian, natural science subjects and mathematics.

Web-site www.buki.ge was activated in parallel. Textbooks and additional literature is uploaded on this site for every school child. Teachers passed special trainings in order to master the netbooks. The first graders who are provided with the netbooks will begin studying English language right from the first form. From the new academic year all first graders will be provided with the netbooks and therefore all first graders will begin to study English.

According to the Minister’s information, the evaluation system is being changed. The school children will be assessed according to the three components – homework, class assignment and summarizing task. New subjects – civil defence and safety as well as the sports lessons will be introduced. Natural science teaching hours of the will be increased. Teaching of the dance classes will be begun from January in the pilot schools. Cash will be abolished and credit cards will be introduced in the school canteens.

1,000 native English language foreign teachers will work in the public schools of Georgia together with Georgian teachers by the end of 2010.Number of the teachers will be doubled from the next year. New journals have been approved. These journals will be important mechanism for advancing the level of education and controlling the quality of academic attendance. The schools will develop internal regulations based on the codes of ethics. Teachers, school children and school principals should follow these regulations.

In the scope of the Safety Concept, certified resource officers will cover all schools of Tbilisi and Batumi from the new academic year. They will start working in Zugdidi, Rustavi, Kutaisi and Gori schools by the end of the academic year.

Surveillance cameras are already installed in the schools in order to control outward and internal perimeter of the school and create the safe zones. The school will be responsible for involving parents in the children’s upbringing. Administrative sanctions will be introduced for the parents who will avoid this responsibility.