Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia - Natia Zedginidze attended the official event dedicated to the French-Georgian cooperation in the educational field at the National Library within the scope of the - "Francophone Month".

"It is wonderful that the representatives of Frace’s leading universities are here with us today. In this regard, I’d like to point out that, this joint activity is based on a mutual memorandum, signed back in 2015, which gives young people an opportunity to expand their horizons and continue their education in France” – stated Natia Zedgenidze.

Ambassador of France to Georgia - Pascal Menier and Director of the International Education Center - Nino Chelidze attended the event organized by the French Institute and the French Embassy in Georgia.

Presentation of the renewed French-Georgian scholarship program and official signing of the Memorandum was held at the event as well.

The French-Georgian Master Scholarship is a joint program of the French Embassy in Georgia, the French Institute and International Center for Education, which envisages students studying French and English Master's programs in French. The scholarship program will be implemented in 2021 and several Georgian students will be able to study in French universities from 2021 onwards.

Following the signature, the parties have identified the winners of the current scholarship program and awarded them with the respective certificates. In the course of 2019-2020, 15 scholarships will be awarded and Georgian citizens will be funded in French higher education institutions for a full one academic year. The priority directions of the scholarship program are: Agrarian sciences; Engineering; Natural sciences; Social sciences; Humanitarian sciences; law; Architecture; Public governance and management.

Within the format of the presentation on French-Georgian cooperation in the field of education, various talks were given by the the head of the International Center for Education - Nino Chelidze, Regional Director of “Campus France” - Olivie Portiche, and the Director of the French Institute - Pierre Cluet and other invited guests.

France is one of the main partners of Georgia. According to UNESCO's statistics on student mobility, France is the second in the European Union for Georgian students. Fifteen agreements of ERASMUS + Mobilization have been signed. Also, 22 agreements of bilateral cooperation between universities. Three diploma programs (informatics, public health and medicine, management) are already functioning. Taking into consideration that 5 Georgian universities are a member of the University of Francophone University, giving them the ability to benefit from professional teaching oriented French language (for example, French language courses adapted to tourism and innovation, through online learning and etc).

In addition, Campus France's representation is to provide free information and consulting support to students in order to encourage their mobility in France.

A new stage of bilateral cooperation is the establishment of the French-Georgian University. The purpose of the ambitious project is to set up a double diplomas in the fields of tourism as well as agriculture and informatics between French and Georgian universities. A bilateral agreement was signed between the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education of Europe and the Ministry of Education of Georgia on 26 May 2018.