The President of Georgia presented the new Minister to the employees of the Ministry of Education and Science

7/4/2012

Hello everyone,

We want to have teachers with high salaries in Georgia. This is why, the tests designed for pedagogues will be decisive.

On the one hand, we should not raise the threshold to a level where a teacher will not be able to overcome it, while on the other, they need an incentive – just as a child needs to have an incentive to study better, so does a teacher to improve his/her level of professionalism.

The youth, who are graduating from the higher institutions, should have a willingness to teach at schools.

When you graduate from the university and have an opportunity to work at school with a 1000 and 1500 GEL salary, of course, it is a substantial incentive for our students as well.

The most successful and prominent students, who graduate from the universities, should fill the spots of pedagogues at general schools.

We need serious progress in this direction.

You know that there are changes being made in the examination system.

You have already seen that the talk that we would not manage to conduct exams and the country would be ruined was made up. The exams are being held.

We are the ones who have created these exams, we have elaborated this system and no matter who says what, as long as I make decisions in this country and I hope people will support us so that this team continues to make decisions, this system will function.

These exams are a brilliant example of this.

Yet, precisely because it is a system created personally by me and us, I have seen firsthand the shortfalls of this system. It was a flaw that the unified national exams, in effect, were held through a different program than the school exams. Another problem was that there were no exams at the schools any longer, and after a long debate we have reintroduced them. It is also a problem that the youth need tutors in order to pass the unified national exams and get accepted to the universities.

This is social injustice.

We need every person to be on equal footing – it is very important.

Every person, no matter where he lives, either in Tsnori, Gldanula, in the village of Lesichine, or any other place in Georgia, should have an opportunity to pass the unified national exams.

That is why it should take place at school – it is first.

The second – some had a salary of 8 thousand GEL at the National Center of Examination, some 10 and some 15 thousand and it became like a real bureau. Neither is this social justice…

Our goal is for the examination center to work for the entire year.

The exams should not be held once a year, university entrants should have an opportunity to retake exams or improve their results throughout the year. This concerns the receipt of state financing as well. The amount of this grant should also increase.

This is what all of us together need to do.

This center should function in a manner that it is always open for all of our citizens.

This concerns teachers as well.

Everyone should be able to take exams at any time – just like it is in the U.S.

They take exams every month in the U.S. You can go there, improve the results and get a second chance.

This is what justice is all about.

Certainly, the unified national exams had been an achievement for us back then; many other things which this Ministry has carried out has also been an achievement, but the reform needs to be carried on and the main object should be the teacher.

It is very important and everyone should realize it.

I believe we acquired huge experience together with you, and the main charm of our ministry is that we are all equal.

There are mostly people of the same age working here and the age difference between the Minister, her deputies and the heads of departments might only be 2-3 years.

In the government, just as in general, there is a democratic environment here, everyone shares their opinion, and they all create a product together.

This is a democratic system, where there is a recipe for success.

That is why the exchange of ideas should continue.

It is a fact that Khatia Dekanoidze has diplomatic experience. She had worked in our embassy in the U.S. in a fairly difficult period for a few years.

She has operationalized the Police Academy from scratch, which is not a police institution. It is an educational institution, which has a very important function and we should carry on what we began back in 2004 – the education system reform, which started from Kakha Lomaia’s unified exams and continued with our efforts.

It is a good thing that we have five female Ministers in our government.

It was not planned, but turned out to be the case. This means that women will have new opportunities in Georgia.

I believe that your slogan – “More Benefits for People” is true.

Each person should have an understanding of what the new education system means and what it gives to their children.

We have worked hard in order to reduce the price of books.

Children should have equal opportunities so that they accomplish something in life.

This is what our objective is.

We are building a state of equal rights, where everyone will move forward in equal terms.

I thank very much your entire personnel.

I believe Khatia will handle these tasks.

Good luck!

Thank you.