The Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia would like to make a clarification regarding the claim of delegate Dimitri Lortkipanidze that was spread by the agency “Pirveli” about the first term for the registration of a child in General Education Institutions, defined from April 2^nd to June 17^th, 2012. For those parents who failed to register on the official web pages of the ministry (www.mes.gov.ge and www.catalog.edu.ge) for various reasons, an additional term was announced from August 1^st to August 17^th, 2012. Unfortunately there were parents, including Dimitri lortkipanidze, who failed to register their children even in the second term. In light of these circumstances, the ministry empathetically announced a third registration term on August 27^th, which will end September 10^th.

Dimitri lortkipanidze registered his child during the recently announced third term. A Child registered in this term would still be accepted in to the program of the ministry, however in the case of Dimitri Lortkipanidze, his children won’t get textbooks free of charge due to the “Program of the Provision for Pupils with Textbooks.” Free books are provided for the pupils whose parents are not property taxpayers, i.e. their annual income must not exceed 40,000 GEL, while the annual (2011) income of Dimitri Lortkipanidze was 50,476.65 GEL.

According to the property declaration of the Civil Service Bureau and within the framework of the social program of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, only certain categories of pupils are provided with free textbooks. This has been one of the successful projects among many that are being implemented by the ministry. For three years the “Program of the Provision for Pupils with Textbooks” has been providing millions of free textbooks to 100 thousand vulnerable pupils of large families and children of the soldiers who died in the August 2008 war.