The Center for Progress addresses the Prime Minister – Irakli Gharibashvili with a statement and asks to be involved in the education reform process. According to them, the involvement of students in this process is important for their development. The leader of the movement “for the People”, who has been fighting for the rights of suspended students for several months, also joins the appeal.
According to the Center, access to higher education remains a significant challenge in Georgia. “In 2020, the number of students suspended from their status reached a record high – 76,000 students (almost every second) could not continue their studies”, the statement said. According to them, the problem is especially acute during a pandemic, against the background of severe socio-economic problems.
“According to the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Education and Science has started working on changing the funding model for higher education. On July 30, Irakli Gharibashvili announced that a 10-year education system development document was being developed and that the higher education funding system would be changed.
As it is known, the reforms in Georgia are mostly carried out without the involvement of the people who are directly dependent on these processes and whose interests any state change should take into account.
In this case, we are talking about students-young people who are far away, involved in the decision-making process to protect their rights.
“Therefore, we, the student coalition of the Center for Progress appeal (which unites university students throughout Georgia) to involve us in the process of working on a higher education funding model to protect student interests and deliver reform to the youth,” the Center said in a statement.