Georgian students with state foreign scholarships return home to top jobs

Georgia’s state bodies are embracing the students who travelled abroad and gained Master’s and doctorate degrees in leading foreign universities after winning state scholarships.

Georgia’s Prime Minister met with students today who received scholarships from the International Education Centre – an organisation founded in 2014 based on Garibashvili’s initiative to ensure local students received a top quality education then return home to utilise their skills in their homeland.

About 200 students were granted scholarships to study abroad during in 2014 and 2015.

At today’s meeting Garibashvili said the financing program was the "most successful” to date.

Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili: "About 200 students have been sent abroad to study in leading foreign educational institutions in 2014-2015”. Photo by the Prime Minister’s webpage. 

I believe that the country’s investment in education is the most beneficial investment one can make.” 

He emphasised that through this program students were obliged to return home after gaining their qualifications and work in their homeland for three years. And once students’ returned the state would assist them to gain a job within a state institution.

One of the major problems was that after going abroad, in previous years’ students never came back again. But we solved the problem by offering jobs to the graduates in leading Georgian state structures,” Garibashvili said.

The scholarships funded the entire course costs for recipients to complete a Masters’ or doctorate degree abroad. 

The International Education Centre financed the studies of 77 students in 2014 and 115 this year.