Greetings!
It has never happened before that so many beautiful and smart children have gathered here. The fact that you are very smart is not proved by my words only, but the IT technologies revealed it, because you have received the highest scores in the attestation exams. According to the results you are among one hundred best students.
These are the very exams that the demonstrators protested at the meetings in the center of Tbilisi.
Some were arranging demonstrations and some were sitting home and studying.
These eight subjects are of high importance and I can say that this is the first patriotic step made by you and you can be proud of it.
All epochs, all times, put specific requirements to all the generations and there is nothing else you can do today in regards of patriotism.
You are the generation that was born and raised in independent Georgia and you cannot do anything more patriotic than study well, with your education take the lead over others, knowledge of IT and foreign languages, chemistry, physics and other subjects and prove to everyone that Georgia is the country of talented people.
We will not be able to compete with many people in regards of quantity, but the number of people does not measure big nations, but by shares they can contribute in the world development. In this regard your shares today are in education and self-development.
We indeed held very good exams. I was reading some press recently and found out that our Northern neighbors, the admirers of "shpargalka" that had copy-pasted our system of examinations held recently. However everything was sold out two days prior, more precisely, the examination variants and answers were put on Internet. This is exactly the difference between corrupt and incorrupt states.
Today I saw two things - first how they sold exams in Russia and second how some local moron offered a bribe to the Ministry of Education aiming to attach label on manuals.
I wonder how these people don't understand one thing - bribing doesn't work with this state apparatus. A certain person comes to the Ministry of Education and offers 50 thousand for leaving you uneducated and for him to make more money. Money was made on uneducated people during decades.
Sure it doesn't concern the majority, but in the 60ies people who graduated by bribes only abolished several major fields in Georgia.
Georgians were leaving Georgia (me too) because there was no chance for us to study at the Universities without bribes and nepotism, no matter how would you studied.
I was the Chairman of Legal Committee in the Parliament in the 90ies and we initiated to hold examinations for the Judges. There was unimaginable mafia in Tbilisi - court mafia and when we held several exams at the Parliament that we were broadcasting in live regime I was supervising them together with others. Not a single corrupted judge came to the first exam, because they knew that they didn't know anything. We printed the tickets in a silent way, later we brought everything in and the computer was checking everything. At the fourth or fifth exam all corrupt judges suddenly appeared in the hall. This made all of us suspicious, but the most terrible Judges received highest points, those who were sucking the blood of absolutely the whole country. I realized that our system failed. Before the second exam, we had brought all the cards in by mutual agreement with the Minister of Justice, I brought 2-3 professors from the university that I fully trusted, we sat down and I wrote cards tickets in international and public law... We were writing these tickets all night long, we almost failed to print them and at 08.10 we went to the Parliament. All corrupt judges were there already. I entered the hall, with my had swollen because I didn't have any sleep and I told them: I want to make you happy, we had changed everything, we had composed even better tickets for you and now you will pass exams in more fair way. You should have seen what happened - everybody left the hall. This is why we must understand what is the phenomenon we deal with - some bearers of old bureaucratic, corrupt mentality fight against creation of new Georgia.
Sure this is not a matter of a generation gap, because people of 60, 70, 80 support me most. This is the mentality that Georgia is such an old country that nothing new happens there - neither these walls, neither old Tbilisi, neither old churches, it is true that a park and bridge are new, but in general, everything is old.
It is not surprising that we had all conditions to be a strong state like France, Britain, Italy. I was always thinking why Georgia didn't have this all, but please take a look at our history.
We are often proud of our big battles: Shamkori, Basiani, Didgori. We often forget that the major battles were not the ones that Georgia overcame with grand foreign occupants, but those that permanently happened in Georgia between Georgians.
Mengrelia would become an ally with Kakhetia and would defeat Imereti; then Imereti would get an ally with Guria and they would fight with Mengrelia, later some would get an ally with Abkhazia and fight with Kartl-Kakheti; one head would entice other to forest and would dig ones eyes out, the other would cut off his ear...
It happened so during the entire history - eating and fighting with one another, rivalry and running to foreign countries...
There is nothing new in it. What is new in coming to Tbilisi by someone's task and try to overthrow the government and receive money for this, later run to Tskhinvali and try to find shelter in the country of your enemies... It was the same for centuries. Some Prince that was not able to get the throne would first go for help to Murvan Kru, Sheikh-Abbas, or some Sultan and would bring the army of our enemy in. If they lost battles they would find shelters somewhere hoping that they would gather foreign forces and would destroy their country once again.
So nothing is new in it besides that new generation was formed that doesn't accept the rules of this games.
There is a big majority of political groups that approach this issue in a different way and take their country seriously.
A new generation was raised in these conditions, because my dear children last time we celebrated 20th anniversary of our independence in 15th century.
We were permanently a toy of some big nations. This is why they thought that Georgians wouldn't achieve anything. One more European historian wrote in Iran: everything is in their hands - army, cities, Shakh's property... They would take over Iran in two minutes if they would desire, but these are people that would never agree with one another.
Look there were several groups of betrayers formed recently in Georgia. They all have the same agenda - 'let's make a deal with Russia, with our invaders, let's crush our country and let's put an end to its independence'. But these five or six groups of traitors are eating each other and they have even failed to agree to jointly betray the country and they are betraying separately - let's call things with their proper names, without any European diplomatic language.
People need responsibility. We were taught that a lie is a tool of communication and it is an ordinary thing. I was speaking with the members of the Government recently - if even 5% of the population would believes of what is written in the majority of newspapers and is broeadcasted on some channels this government would have been overthrown quite a long time ago already. However everybody know that this is a lie and is not an ordinary thing. Everyone knows that it is a ritual only. But the rules of games change. We are responsible for our own fate. Rules are changing. A new generation has emerged, that believes, that everything is being decided not in Moscow, not in Washington or in Australia, but here on the Georgian soil by multiethnic Georgian nation. Everyone is responsible for our country, because sure you will find out frequently and I know it as well, that people are in greatest hardship. This is why education is the major thing. We must save our country and nothing else will save us as the education, because taxes are created by educated people and taxes are improving our lives. We must have double digit economic growth from the next year, it means that the income of the Georgian population will raise ten times more as average in order to double our GDP in several years. No one must remain in poverty so that they weren't able to buy manuals for their children because of the same reason. It must end - once and for all, but we need education for it.
We are speaking about responsibilities. I had often heard that both are bad -the government and the opposition; I don't want to know anything about them...
Gia Nodia wrote the right thing - this is infantilism. You might not like one party, another party, the President - this is normal, but you must not run out of responsibility against your country. If you don't like what goes on - create it yourself and don't allow someone else to decide your fortune when you don't like anyone - this is democracy.
You will often hear that some specific groups compare May 26 events to April 9 - when Soviet tanks went over Tbilisi because Georgian were fighting for their independence. Today they distribute Russian money among certain groups (no one doubts it, even the foreign media writes about it) in order to stand on the way of independent Georgia (however partially occupied) to tell the whole world that it is an independent country and celebrates it. What a cynicism!
Some groups say: "We will come on the street with sticks, stones, whatever we want, we will not allow the army to hold a parade and they will not be able to even touch us. We are like this; we must fight to the end. We have no responsibility, we took money, but you shouldn't touch us"!
Some would say these are bad people, but is it time for a parade now? What does it mean? This is Georgia, it is your symbol and your pride, your past and your future, it is your country. It is not Saakashvili's parade - you tell the whole world - am I a state or some fifth category addition, a territorial-ethnic unit as Russians say - than it is different story. The time of those who want to be e.g. Nauru is gone. because we want to be one of the leading states in Europe with deep sense of dignity.
I once again repeat that this palace doesn't belong to me, neither that parade is held for this government, all those constructions are not going on just to please us, among them Rike Park where thousands of people go.
The society is given a chance to open their eyes and overcome poverty that we are in now, with high tempo.
This is why you must consider that you have passed the first big exam full of responsibility for your country. You already have huge merits, because you showed with your studying that the system works and your country has a future.
This is a very important thing, because our country really has a future together with you.
I don't want to make you leave with empty hands because you came to visit me. Everyone must know that all of those students, who will be the best - would be among one hundred best students, those who will pass exams and receive good marks will get an additional present - a computer. Some of you might already have a computer, but you will have an extra one.
Now we took a course at the University for more entrants to be given a chance to get enlisted on engineering specialty. Sure I am not telling you that you are obliged to enter there, but you should have highest scores in order to get finances from the State. However we are happy that more entrants are registered on engineering faculties. Many European countries started the same processes later than us.
By the way our examination system is under the process of observation and several European countries want to copy it.
I want to hand out these computers to you as the sign of gratitude from our side.
So, as you just found out learning is pretty profitable thing. The first lesson in political economy is receiving material profit - in this case computers. Those who will study well will have better living.
This is the first sign and first gratitude from me to you!
Thank you very much!