The President of Georgia along with the Minister of Education and Science, Dimitri Shashkin, hosted the 10 students, who received the highest scores on the national exams, in his vineyard. Mikheil Saakashvili congratulated the students on their scores and wished them luck and gave them portable computers made in Georgia as presents. The meeting took place in an informal setting - the student's barbequed with the President.
As Dimitri Shashkin noted, the level of preparation for college applicants was higher this year than in previous years, which is a result of recent reforms in the Education sphere.
This year the students with the highest scores mostly chose Information Technologies and Math majors. According to the statistics 40% of all the college applicants chose exact or natural sciences this year. The demand for engineering degrees increased by 102% and 43% for exact and natural sciences compared to last year. Also the demand for professional programs has increased. There was a large competition this year; 7 applications for each spot.
The state scholarship system has also changed. 80% of the grants were distributed to engineering and natural sciences majors.