I welcome everyone.
You are the top 150 students across Georgia – the leading new generation in Georgia, in terms of study.
You are the generation, for whom we have been building and creating for all these years, are still creating today and will continue to create.
The new Technological University of Georgia in Batumi is one of my main prides. We suppose that it will also have a campus in Tbilisi.
You know that we are in an epoch, when many things are changing in Georgia.
This city is a symbol of these changes.
You as well can see how beautiful the front-side of the city is, but the back-side, for those who have seen, there still is great poverty and a great number of people are poor.
For me, the most correct, the fastest and the most just method to defeat poverty is work, and first and foremost continuous study.
This is how my parents raised me, and this is how I raise my children too.
If we all care only about our families and children, especially the people who are in government today, then who will care about Georgia?
You know that some had fears about our exams this year. It turned out that right before the national exams that not only did the head of the unified national exams commission resigned, but many people. Everyone thought that the exams would fail, but they were wrong.
First of all, I would like to say without any modesty that this system was created by me, and considering the fact that many have left our system and we have found new, nothing has gone wrong. Besides, no one is irreplaceable.
One can always find a better president too and hence, we will easily find a better staff for the examination commission.
Many of you have applied for the technical fields this year, but traditionally, as in many countries, there was a competition in the field of international relations; yet the biggest competition has been in the military aviation field and in the field of military engineering.
Many countries announced a military embargo on us four years ago, while some were simply afraid of providing us with arms.
We have recruited the Georgian military engineers, including those from all over the world, invited several foreign consultants and developed Georgian battle machines. Some say that it is not Georgian but it is not so.
The foreigners are buying these machines already; it has a very high reputation. And everyone likes it too, which means that we can actually do it.
We should enhance our work, including in this field as well. This is what I call on you – to aspire towards innovation. You have to create something which they do not have in other countries.
The applicants who failed to pass the barriers often write to me on Facebook saying that we should add seats if we want to get votes during the elections.
You are laughing, but in 1991 when the Gamsakhurdia government was incoming, the medical university was the most prestigious one, and all applicants including the laziest ones, were pooled in this institute, for the electorate not to be unhappy. They still think that it is like those times, when the just system was sold in exchange for the elections.
The Russians fought us in 2008, and we have not compromised a bit – we will always do what is right.
We are being told to go back to our patrons, our patron is in the north and they know better of our fate.
That country is watching us thoughtfully and is stunned by the progress of Georgia. It has so much oil and gas, which we could never dream of, but it fails to do anything like this because justice is the primary criterion for a better life.
Every talented youth will find his/her way in a just environment; we will surely create a new product in a just environment, we will surely build new universities, we will surely develop not only new state institutions, but we will surely manage to create an entirely new system in economy, in agriculture; to improve the standard of living in cities, as well as in villages in a just environment.
This reform of the education system – application to the universities free of corruption, is one of the biggest achievements, which I, my friends and my colleagues are proud of and like to show off.
The main thing now is for no one ever to return Georgia to the past. No one will ever do it!
Perhaps, you do not remember, but I remember well what this system was like.
Some do not appreciate the absence of corruption, the absence of criminals in the streets…
When I was a university applicant, because of the unfairness in Georgia, I did not get accepted to the university and left for Ukraine for studies.
When I was becoming a president, it used to cost 15 thousand USD to apply to the law faculty in Tbilisi. It all was happening by those people, who are striving to come back to government.
It used to cost 12 thousand USD to apply to the Medical University …
People who did this have names and last names. Each of them will go to the elections…the main thing is for our society to realize that their time should never come back to Georgia.
I am certainly not here to agitate, as everyone has to make choices themselves. Most of you do not even have the right to vote, but we should never allow the system to come back, the system which shuts down prospects to the talented, beautiful, interesting and special youth that you are.
This is what the most important thing is.
This is a very concrete thing, which we have achieved.
My friends, I would like to once again congratulate you, wish you success and conquering of new heights.
It is the beginning of the beginning.
Do not be overconfident, you still have a tough life ahead of you – study day and night, stay up late at night, compete with each other and build a very successful carrier.
I admire you for starting out life like this, but I am sure that you will be very dignified citizens of the best country.
Similarly, I am sure that you will be very successful in life.
By the time you finish at least your Bachelor’s degree, this university will be the best, the construction of this city will be finished, while Georgia will be much more advanced than it is today.
My biggest insurance that there will never be a catastrophe again in Georgia, is neither the government, nor especially me personally, nor specific international factors, but it is you, the new generations – the reserve of our fortitude.
There is a generation of very interesting people coming and we can be proud that the future relay is handed to you.
Our objective is that those who took 15-25 thousand for enrolling youth to the universities, who devastated Georgia, do not seize the authority again – our objective is to hand the authority to you, who will indeed not give up freedom, to those of you who are much more talented, and hardworking, who have much more prospects and will indeed create a long-term prospect of immense development for every single one of us.
This is what I wanted to tell you my friends.