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Thursday, October 25, 2007, #204 (1471)
On October 23, Tbilisi State University (TSU) rector Gia Khubua announced that the university’s internal investigation commission discovered serious improprieties at its regional branch in Kvemo Kartli. The Kvemo Kartli branch is accused of improperly issuing diplomas, accepting students without national examination certificates and enrolling foreign students without the approval of the Ministry of Education, Khubua said. “There are many questions that need to be answered and this commission, with help from the police, will investigate this,” he told journalists. The rector said the matter would be referred to the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Education. In a September speech outlining the newest ministerial cabinet’s program, President Mikheil Saakashvili declared the first stage of education reform in Georgia complete, praising the establishment of a corruption-free and equal-opportunity university system. “Violations like these were meant to have been eradicated from the education system, but unfortunately the commission has discovered this particular case,” Khubua said on October 23. Of the 304 students enrolled at the Kvemo Kartli university, 208 were found to be illegally registered. Most of them are reportedly foreign nationals from Russia and Azerbaijan. Omar Tabutsadze, the Kvemo Kartli rector, has already been dismissed from the post and other university officials involved in the scandal will be brought to justice, TSU management said. The commission discovered the improprieties at Kvemo Kartli during a university reorganization program. The program oversaw the creation of an official Sokhumi state university branch, while the Akhaltsikhe branch was reclassified as an institute and the Sighnaghi and Tsnori branches were merged. Nodar Grigalashvili, chair of the parliamentary Committee for Education, Science, Culture and Sports told the Messenger he had no detailed information on the issue, but underlined that the branch rector has no authority to enroll foreign students without permission from the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education will make an official statement after it receives the case documents from TSU, ministry spokeswoman Maia Chankseliani told the Messenger. |
Serious improprieties uncovered in state university branch
