Mikheil Saakashvili met those teachers at the President's Palace today, who successfully went through both stages of certification, received highest evaluations and found themselves among 25 percent of best teachers throughout Georgia. Starting from the next educational year these teachers would receive 1000 GEL salary. The President of Georgia personally met them and congratulated them for their success.

Greetings!

First of all I want to congratulate myself for what we had done all together and what we have achieved mutually - this is the first time, when we have teachers with 1000 GEL salary in Georgia. There were teachers of certain categories with such salaries before, but it was very low percentage. Now the chance appeared for teachers to have 1 000 GEL minimal salary.

After first attestation exam we have only 200 teachers of this category, but it is possible to increase this number significantly during upcoming years. That 5 percent, who will pass attestation exams with the best indicators will have 1000 GEL salaries.

Besides this, you know that mentor teachers receives 160 GEL as an addition and if they have passed attestation exam on the high level their salary will reach 1160 GEL.

This is a very positive thing for every Georgian family, especially for them who take their children to school. Children in their 5 year age go to school already and we give them computers, but this is not the major thing. I want to tell you that we are going to take my younger son to school, he is 5-yars-old (however I was five, when I went to school). My son knows Dutch and English, this is why we could tae him in Netherlands, USA or Britain for studying, but he will go to a regular public school to Tbilisi. The major idea is that those 5-years-old children, who will go to school together with my son Nikusha, will receive the same education as they would receive in Netherlands and I hope even better. This is the major principle and we have to maintain it. We must not be left behind someone, because we are not like that. All of us together must create a new standard in the educational system of Georgia. average salary at school is 380 GEL today. Adding to that 75 GEL received after first stage of attestation exam. After second stage - passing English and computers exams - 125 GEL will be added. All the rest above this 25 percent will receive 1 000 GEL salary.

Besides this, after many discussions and quarrels, we managed to return 12^th graders back to schools. We adopted strict discipline, now eight exams must be passed and this exam period is even closer now.  

This is only beginning and maybe many things will not be that complicated this year, but everyone will know that eight subjects should be passed in Georgia to receive school attestation. Though, we are speaking not about farther perspectives, but about closest weeks. This year twice more entrants got registered on engineering occupation than last year, natural sciences returned its importance. The major motivation, why they register for natural sciences is that our people want jobs.

We have explained people. That we have too many specialists in international relations, legal staff, economists - it depends what is the level of their qualification and many other professionals, because in 90ies it was a trend and everyone wanted to become specialists of international law and study many subjects of uncertain origin.   

Today, in reality the perspective of employment is rather high for the specialist of constructing sphere, in the direction of geology and metallurgy, in management - but the managers should understand well the occupation he works for. So to say natural sciences, IT and engineering sphere returned to school. By the way a conference of inventors was held recently and we saw incredible children there. You know it better than me. Studying motivation returned to schools throughout the whole country. I say returned - because lets be honest - I never remember it was ever in such a way.   

Personally I was an excellent schoolchild and I graduated the school and received a golden medal, but for example it was shame for a boy to study well. This was "street boys" mentality that I see in our politics some time as well. These fellows standing on the street "birja" all the time is not by accident - this was a social background and request in Georgia. We managed that every third child participates in Olympiad today. We never had such a data in Soviet times. When I was participating in Olympiads - I participate in every Olympiad - my classmates used to look at me in a different way. You know better than me that we have an acute competition today - who will get better marks and who will do better that other. This is the major guarantee of our future.   

We have managed and returned discipline to school by the help of mandatures. Sure this is not an ideal institute, it would be better if all of this was done by default, but introduction of this element is not preconditioned because of good and still live. You know very well what caused this to happen - how the students acted, they were biting teachers, they were throwing desks from fifth and fourth floors, I saw it will my own eyes how they were throwing things to the pedestrians. This "street boy" mentality was left only at schools in Georgia.

So in these conditions, when the discipline had improved and united educational plan had changed - due to your request and will we have simplified manuals - we had increased salaries - maybe not to all of you, but to many and salaries of many teachers are still increasing. Now all is up to you. We are creating every type of conditions and we all together must create new standard in Georgian education sphere.

This standard will assure that Georgia will become competitive country throughout the world.

When I speak about Singaporization it doesn't mean that we must suppress freedom - sure no. We are free citizens of free country and our priorities are liberal economy - when everyone has equal opportunities for the success and education, because uneducated people have no chance to create modern economy and will not be able to bring welfare for themselves and their children.  

Our state will spend its last cents in order for qualified teachers to have good salaries. I will be very glad if everyone will have salary worth of 1 000 GEL today, but justice is very important.

1000-1160 GEL today is an upper level. Everyone should pass attestation exam, everyone should raise their qualification and everyone will have same salary. If they wont be able to pass these exams they will not have - because first of all we want good education for our children.  

In my childhood I was participating in every Olympiad that were held in math, chemistry and physics and as a ruse I was wining them, but when we reached the final of republic Vekua or Komarov school would appear and it was a final. The conception is very important that is created today - competition or concurrence not only among children, but among teachers as well. It means that a child became more exigent what is really very good and also they request more from teachers. This would create certain climate among children - who are better teachers and who are worse.

Now we are introducing interactive, distance learning. For example best teachers presented here should not teach in Komarov the subject, but in Chkhorutsku, Telavi schools as well - and this will be distance learning. Sure additional salaries will be issued for them and other teachers should see this as well. For example the best teachers are in Lesichinekhi, Chkhorustsku region they should give distance-learning lessons to all teachers in Georgia and show them how they teach for example Georgian literature. This is second thing that we have to do together with you. For example I studied in I Experimental School. I had best teacher of Georgian literature - Elene Surguladze. I regret very much that no one recorded those lessons in order for everyone to see what was the level of studies then. I also had University Professor Otar Khazaradze who taught us physics. Unfortunately he passed away. We are now bringing labs for every school. We couldn't even dream about such labs in our childhood. We are bringing computers in every school. We are also bringing Lego system toys in every school with studying function and they will be available for every child. Learning process becomes interactive and interesting, but we must use modern technologies for the implementation of these methods. This is why I require the knowledge of computers. When you can work on computer you will be able to involve others interactively as well. You can teach others, share your knowledge and possibilities and become a concurrent of others.

I have said many times: a child or adult, has the same competiveness in California, Japan or some other place if they know computers or languages well. We only have to want to get involved in it and prove with our talent what we can do.

Cotne Tabidze - a boy living in Kutaisi - wins every single Olympiad. His eyes are full of intellect. Tsotne Tabidze who sits in Avtokarkhana settlement, in Kutaisi, near the Parliament is extremely competitive throughout the whole world. It didn't come from the air. He is a son of a family that lives in hardship, but his teacher gave him this knowledge - a teacher of Vekua School that was a competitor of Komarov School always. This is why all of us have to do this together. 

I sure remember in what type of conditions were our schools. In 90ies when I got back from US and was elected as a PM I visited a school near my former school and I saw conditions there. Not a single window there was full, in every window you could see chimneys and everything was black. There was no electricity, teachers had no salaries and they were collecting money for woods. You know very well what was going on. Now we are building good schools. It is true that not every school is good, but half of them needs to be renovated and I had promised you that I will renovate them and there will be no abandoned school left in Georgia any more by the end of my Presidency term - hundreds of schools of new standards will be constructed in Georgia.

This is why my dear people perspectives are huge. You are now the first runners of new Georgian education system, as you see all with different experience, age, gender and maybe origins. The main thing is that I see light, intellect, will and enthusiasm in the eyes of each of you. Lets all of us do it together. Everyone observes us with great interest throughout the world and they try to copy our reforms as Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Armenia, Ukraine and as it seems Russia as well. However the representatives of this country observe us in a silent way and later give instructions how to do this or that business. But this is a totally different subject. By the way I am sure that they copy-pasted many things from us. Today Dima Shashkin was joking: probably they will bring mandatures in their schools an would name them "gorodovoi" or something like that. It is good in real if your neighbor will become modernized and civilized. Georgia creates these standards. Totally different mentality is being formed and first of all you create it. Everything that characterizes me, 90 percent of it, was put into me by my teachers. The same can be said about each person and most probably about you as well.

I want to congratulate you once again, go on to work this way and we will achieve everything, everything will be all right. Many thanks.