From next year, the university grant backing model will be abolished and discipline will become free in practice. At the same time, teaching time in schools and universities will be reduced.
Georgia's Minister of Education Giwi Mikanadze reported on tv Rustawi 2 that fresh rules on the abolition of university fees would not include students who are already studying. At private universities, a student will receive backing only if the government considers that there is an additional need.
The Minister did not indicate whether the number of students admitted to state universities would be reduced as part of the planned improvement and whether the cost of learning at private universities would increase.
Currently, the grant strategy allows any student who successfully passed the National Single Examinations to receive state backing regardless of the chosen university.
In the academic year 2024/25 there were 63 universities in Georgia: 44 private and 19 state universities. The number of students reached a historical maximum of 187,8 thousand. Of these, 42% studied at private universities.
Previously, Georgia's Prime Minister, Iraq Kobachidze, announced plans to improvement the higher education system. Among another things, the improvement envisages a change in the strategy of state backing for universities and strengthening the function of the state in shaping educational needs.
In addition, Kobachidze presented the concept of a improvement that would reduce school education from 12 years to 11 years and control to three-year undergraduate studies and an yearly master's degree alternatively of the current 4+2 system. Georgian students who want to proceed studying abroad will gotta complete 12th grade in private schools or search for peculiar classes in state schools.
The improvement has sparked criticism from teachers and experts who say that shortening school education can make it hard to enter European universities and weaken Georgia's integration into the European education space.
Source: ekhokavkaza.com, newsgeorgia.ge
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