December 7

Newspaper–“Versia”

From 2012 new reforms will implemented in the Higher Education System of Georgia

Nino Barabadze

From 2012 Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia will introduce innovations in the higher education system. As Minister stated some liberal changes will be made in particular in particular fields.

Ministry is being implemented several successful reforms such as High School Exams; Safe School Program with School Resource Officers guarantying the safety of schoolchildren; New National Curriculum; New system of text-book approval and many others. As the results of the research conducted by UNICEF show, Georgia is one of the successful countries in which the accessibility to education is very high.

As Minister stated, as a result to the successfully implemented reforms, from 2012 some new liberal changes can be introduced in other fields of education as well:

A process of secondary enrollment will be abolished

From 2012, the entrants will have opportunity to choose from 20 different specialties instead of 7.  This new approach provides a wider choice for the prospective students, though they will be enrolled at the respective universities based on the primary choice. Final results of the exams will be announced earlier, by the end of August, which will make the whole process less stressful both for the parents and entrants.

As Minister stated, the abolishment of secondary enrollment will make the examination process less stressful for the entrants and their families as the final results of enrollment will be announced in August instead of October. We often received the complaints from the entrants and their family names about the delay of the examination results, because final results were posted only after the results of the secondary enrollment had been announced. With this new change, enrollment process will go more smoothly than before and by the beginning of the new academic year, every detail concerning the entrants’ enrollment will be clarified.

Minimal competency level for medical and law faculties will be increased

Beginning next year, the minimal competency level for medical and law faculties will be increased with 10%, for foreign languages –with 30%.

In 2011, in 3 subjects minimal competency level was 25% and in foreign language it was 20%.

Dimitri Shashkini: “Law and medical faculties are regulated professions worldwide. A lawyer protects human rights; the doctors are responsible for human lives. Therefore it is particularly important to have qualified staff. Unfortunately, society still has old stereotypes and a lot of people who don’t have sufficient knowledge and skills, have an ambition to become a doctor or a lawyer.”

Changes will be introduced to the student mobility scheme

According to the new mobility rule, the students who study at the faculty of History, for example, will not be able to transfer to Medical faculty until they pass the fourth exams at the unified national exams in the respective subject. Nevertheless, credits accumulated during the studies will be retained to the students as part of the mobility scheme.

This decision was made after 3 month of consultations with experts. As many scientists say that medical faculty students must have the ability to explore the natural and exact disciplines and it’s the truth. The society is in need of qualified professionals and it is our goal to meet the requirements of the society and to help the youngsters to become professionals.

Limitation will be imposed on the higher educational institutions in regard to selecting of the fourth exam

All higher educational institutions will be required to select the fourth exam according to their profile only. For example, previously, at some private HEIs, the entrants had to take history or geography rather than Chemistry or Biology while passing exams to get enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine. From now on this process will be strictly regulated by the Government.

Some modifications will be also made in regard to enrollment of the students at higher professional educational programs

A new rule will regulate enrollment of the students at higher professional educational programs (Levels: IV and V). The entrants will pass the general ability test and later will be able to select their specialties.

Online Registration of Entrants for the Unified National Exams will start next year

From the next year the entrants will be able to pass registration for the Unified National Exams and choose their preferred faculties online. Before submitting the registration form the entrants will also be able to modify their choice of the faculties online.

The procedure of enrolling the foreign citizens at higher educational institutions accredited in Georgia will be simplified

By the initiative of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia the procedure of enrolling foreign citizens at higher educational institutions of Georgia will be simplified. Foreign citizens, who are willing to study at higher educational institutions accredited in Georgia, will be able to begin their studies within 48 hours after submission of their applications. Validation of all the necessary educational documentations will be carried out simultaneously. Previously, the foreign students had to wait for months to go though the necessary administrative procedures.