PM Kvirikashvili: Students, teachers must be free to discuss any topic

Schools, and the education system in general, must be fully depoliticised, says Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili.

Today Kvirikashvili met 500 teachers from schools across the country to celebrate World Teacher’s Day with them in advance. 

World Teacher’s Day is observed annually on October 5.

The Prime Minister's meeting with teachers. Photo by the PM's press office.

We shouldn’t direct the course of thinking of people at schools and universities in one direction. Everyone has their own civil position but since politics is still associated with confrontation in Georgia, our goal is to separate school and education from politics as much as possible,” Kvirikashvili said.

The Prime Minister said he knew how much effort teachers put in to their jobs and he was went to for their children and he was highly appreciative for their professionalism and of their efforts to serve as educators, as there were two teachers in his family – his mother and grandmother.

I want to confirm my greatest respect for you and assure you that no step will be taken in the education policy without your involvement," Kvirikashvili told teachers.

The Prime Minister stressed education was the number one priority for his Government, then he named some of the achievements his team had enjoyed during the past four years.

We significantly increased the funding for general education; Funding for schools has increased with 348 million GEL, which was a 54 percent increase, and in 2016 the budget of this field amounted to 572 million GEL,” he said.

He mentioned teachers salaries had increased and said the average salary for teachers would be 800 GEL per month in 2017.

Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili (L) and Education Minister Aleksandre Jejelava. Photo by the PM's press office. 

Kvirikashvili spoke about his thoughts of Georgia's education reform.

"The central figure must be a pupil, student and scholar, and the entire system, ministry and Government must be oriented on them and their needs,” Kvirikashvili said.

School should become a place where students are excited to go and where they not only gain education but also are able to talk to their teachers about anything they are concerned about,” the Prime Minister said.

He noted there were plans to launch new lessons where students and teachers would be able to discuss any topics they wanted or were interested in.

After all of these efforts, we believe the quality of education is increased,” he said.

Kvirikashvili said it was also important to help teachers increase their qualification.

"Teacher examinations shouldn’t felt like an instrument of punishment. Instead, a teacher should have undergone relevant trainings before they get into a classroom and should look forward to exams as a means of improving their qualification,” the PM said.