Back to school: New academic year begins in Georgia today

It’s back to school today for hundreds of thousands of students at Georgian public and private schools, and the new academic year is bringing many changes to school life, the country’s Education Ministry says.

Almost 50,000 six-year-olds are attending their first day of school today; all of whom received a full set of school books and netbook for free from the state.

Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili visited Tbilisi First Classical Gymnasium – the school he graduated from – and congratulated the first graders on their very first school bell.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili travelled about 30km away from Tbilisi to Tsilkani village, where he met the teachers and pupils who would enjoy a brand new school building.

Tsilkani Public School was built earlier this year. Photo by the PM's Press Office.

Garibashvili said over the past three years nine modern schools had been built in Georgia and about 1,000 had been renovated.

He added transport issues affecting pupils from mountain villages had been fixed, where school buses would serve about 60 000 children this year.

Some other changes implemented this 2015-16 academic year also included the raise of teachers’ salary.

Georgian public kindergartens and universities also celebrated the beginning of the new academic year today.