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Thursday,
August 23,
2007, #161 (1428)
"Our citizens, the ethnic Armenians living in Akhalkalaki, Ninitsminda, and other regions can wholly satisfy their educational needs in Georgian universities," Lomaia told journalists on August 22. Last week, the Armenian Minister of Education and Science Levon Mkrtichian said he would push for a new Armenian-language university in the province when he meets with Lomaia in Yerevan. He had previously proposed the project in talks with Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli. The Armenian Embassy in Tbilisi confirmed the initiative, but said they would reserve comment until the two education ministers had a chance to talk about it in person. Susana Khachaturian of the NGO Shushanike, which advocates for ethnic Armenian women's and education rights in Georgia, told the Messenger that university applicants who don't speak Georgian-like many of the ethnic Armenians in the impoverished Samtskhe-Javakheti province-have little hope of getting a higher education. "For them, it's impossible to pass the national entrance exams," Khachaturian said. Head of the Union of Armenian Youth of Georgia, Mikhail Avakian, agreed that some ethnic Armenians face hurdles in education. "Georgian-speaking Armenians have no problems at all…Russian and Armenian-speaking Armenians, however, have a lot of difficulties getting an education," Avakian told the Messenger. Khachaturian said she would welcome an Armenian-language university in the province, but that it would be more helpful in integrating ethnic Armenians if the Georgian government opened it, rather than Armenia. Education Ministry spokeswoman Keti Chkhobadze, however, reiterated Minister Lomaia's statement that there would be no serious discussion between Tbilisi and Yerevan about opening an Armenian-language university in Samtskh-Javakheti. Instead, the ministry is planning to create Georgian-language prep courses for ethnic Armenian, Ossetian and Azeri university applicants. "Ethnic minorities
in our country will have everything they need to learn Georgian. The
courses will be free, plus applicants taking the courses will get scholarships
of GEL 100," Chkhobadze said. |
Lomaia:
no chance of an Armenian-language university in Samstke-Javakheti