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.