Georgia’s education system faces a policy issue of smaller schools. Currently, over 800 or 36% of its schools have 50 or less students, according to a comprehensive the 2018-2019 public school infrastructure database complied and analyzed by GeoWel. Almost all these small school are in villages, where depopulation and urban migration depletes student base of these local education centres. At the same time, many of these schools are the only hubs of local social life and employment opportunities, which makes “school optimization” or closing/consolidating some of the village schools problematic and often plainly wrong policy.
One of Georgia’s largest villages, Mukhrani (population of over 6 thousand per 2014 census) faces a similar dilemma. To observe the situation on the ground, GeoWel traveled to one of the largest villages of Georgia, Mukhrani to look at how it manages its schools. Administratively, it has two schools. One of them has two large buildings, housing respectively around 500 and 300 students. Both of them have “Good” and “Fair” facility status in the 2018-2019 public school infrastructure database and do not lack financial and facility resources.
“Because we have two buildings, we don’t really need anything from the local administration. We buy stuff we need annually and renovate schools when needed,” – says the school principal. It is no wonder that most parents in Mukhrani prefer this school (one of its two branches) for their kids.
The smaller school, “Mukhrani N3 Public School”, is home to around 50 kids and 20 teachers. It is a small building on the outskirts of the village, an area locally known as “Mukhrani Agricultural District” (მუხრანის მეურნეობა), and a home to an ethnic minority Azeri community and people who used to work in large Soviet-era collective farms. The place is now next to Chateau Mukhrani vinery, established relatively recently in 2007, but is otherwise more economically and socially disadvantaged than the rest of the settlement.
This school has 5 classrooms in a small building. The 2018-2019 public school assessment database classifies it as “Replacement” in terms of facility/infrastructure condition. While some of its facilities have improved since, notably a new bathroom and internal “cosmetic” renovations, and its students have very limited opportunities beyond bare education.
“Many parents in this neighborhood have started taking their kids far away, to a larger school because it offers more extracurricular activities, and I can’t really blame them,” – says the principal of the smaller school. Her task, beyond general school principal duties, seems to constantly fight for the school survival. Discussion with school staff leaves no question that they work very hard to improve the limited opportunities for their small enterprise – notably, they applied and won a grant that then led to building a brand new outside bathroom system. However, many things are beyond their control and increasingly, parents take decide to take their first graders to other schools.
The other school in Mukhrani (its two buildings) has all kinds of extracurricular activities, including a “virtual lab” for kids for science classes, nice sports halls (one of them has literally four – inside all purpose, basketball, football and wrestling) and dining halls. 3rd school of Mukhrani does not have a sports hall or other extracurricular areas.
By one logic, the writing is on the wall – the appeal, function and feasibility of the smaller school is decreasing to the point of inevitable closure. But its absorption to the larger school would mean certain unemployment for many of its teachers, and the loss of social life and functions revolving around it.
“In many ways, this school is a foundation for many Azeris, many of whom learn Georgian here, we teach them all the things and pay more attention,” – says the principal of the smaller school and also alludes to the fact that Azeris could face bullying in larger school something that “did not” happen in their institution.
Mukhrani case symbolizes an important and sensitive policy dilemma: what is the right approach with these smaller schools with significant infrastructural challenges that also serve disadvantaged communities? How to balance their social functions and importance on the one hand, and at the same time offer equal and fair education more comprehensively and optimally to all village kids irrespective of their social status?
Each of such cases around the country should probably be addressed individually. In some cases the migration and demographic patterns are very strong and the writing is on the wall, but the struggle of Mukhrani’s 3rd school once again signifies social functions of Georgian small schools and communities beyond education: these are employment for teachers and personnel, (often the only) bustling center of local social life, and an area of opportunity for ethnic minorities and other excluded groups.
