Georgia announces promotion of healthy lifestyle as national priority

Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has announced that promoting a healthy lifestyle among children is one of the Government’s main priorities. 

Kvirikashvili said his team will make efforts to promote sport and a healthy lifestyle in schools.

"Within the education reform, the Government of Georgia will begin promoting a healthy lifestyle and will take on the responsibility of making sure each and every pupil is engaged in physical activities”, Kvirikashvili said.

The Prime Minister added that the Ministries of Education and Sport, as well as different sport federations, will develop a special program for schools to ensure that sport becomes a daily aspect of pupils lives. 

Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili opens a new school in Tbilisi. Photo: PM's press office. 

Kvirikashvili noted that the education reform is an important part of the Government’s four-point reform plan and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle across Georgia will be a major component of this reform.

"I think that in the era of new technologies, it is even more important to engage children in physical activity. That’s why we want to offer a special program to each school to implement a healthy lifestyle amongst pupils”, the Prime Minister said.

A new school opened today in Tbilisi will accommodate up to 1000 children. Photo: PM's press office. 

Education Minister Aleksandre Jejelava said that sport has been largely sidelined in Georgian schools in recent years. 

"With technologies developing so fast, our children are becoming more and more attached to iPhones and iPods. They don’t want to go out and play and very often they lack physical activity”, Jejelava said.

"We are going not only to make children engaged in physical activities in school gyms but also to motivate them to follow a healthy lifestyle out of school, too”.

The school is fitted with modern technologies and meets western standards. Photo: PM's press office. 

The Prime Minister voiced the new initiative as he opened a new public school today in Tbilisi. He said the school meets modern standards, is adapted to the needs of children with disabilities and can serve up to 1,000 pupils.