Key Findings
Georgia is a country proud of its tradition of inter-ethnic tolerance. Some 16% of the country’s population are ethnic minorities, mostly Armenians and Azerbaijanis, and government policy stresses the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural character of the Georgian state. However, in spite of these sentiments, more than 15 years of educational reforms are still leaving most ethnic minority children behind.
Most of Georgia’s minorities live in rural, monoethnic settlements isolated from the rest of Georgian society, most obviously by language: 74% of native Azerbaijani speakers and 51% of native Armenian speakers do not speak Georgian fluently. This is partly the reason why representatives of these communities look to Baku or Yerevan (or to Russia) rather than Tbilisi for work opportunities and migration.
In terms of civil integration, the state is obligated to provide quality education to its ethnic minority citizens. Nearly two thirds of teachers at non-Georgian schools are Practitioners – lowest teacher status which “directly reflects on the teaching quality.” Non-Georgian schools also show lower achievement scores in national and international testing, compared to Georgian schools.
In 2016, 56% of Azerbaijani language school and 44% of Armenian language school students failed their final exams, compared to just a quarter of Georgian students. Moreover, a quarter of ethnic minority applicants failed their university entrance exams in 2018 compared to 13% of Georgian speakers. In addition, PISA 2015 and 2018 show that there are significant differences in performance of Georgian and Azerbaijani students – differences which are to socio-economic profile AND language of instruction.
The lack of state language knowledge is the critical challenge. Some 64% of minority 7th graders are unable to pass the minimum threshold of achievement in Georgian as a Second Language subject, and only 12% achieve the high level. Writing is the most challenging competence, with a 78% failure rate. Language competences are significantly worse in rural schools – 82% of rural schoolchildren score below the minimum threshold, while only 30% from urban schools do so. Azerbaijani-speaking students are worst-off with 87% of students failing the tests, while this indicator is 60% for Armenian-speaking students (and only 23% for Russian-speaking students). These sector-specific differences stand even when controlling for rural/urban disparities.
The situation is even more difficult given that many teachers in non-Georgian schools do not speak fluent Georgian themselves, meaning that children are often left alone with textbooks and difficult terminology. In addition, Georgia does not produce Armenian or Azerbaijani language and literature textbooks, so they have to use old textbooks, approved in 2011, or import foreign textbooks from neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan. In both cases, textbooks are inconsistent with the current national curriculum. Making matters worse is the fact that, as pension-age teachers retire every year with very few to replace them, some teachers have to cover subjects for which they have no training. In spite of extensive need and multiple vacancies, especially in sciences, it has proved persistently difficult to attract minorities to the teaching profession. In order to try to remedy the situation, since 2009 Georgian-speaking teaching assistants and consultants have been dispatched to some minority schools. However, studies by the Social Justice Center found “no significant difference in the achievements of the students with whom these teachers work.” Cultural and economic issues, such as early marriage and child labour also add to the challenges supporting lower achievement among ethnic minority students of Georgia.
While the integration strategy 2021-2030 action plan of 2021-2022 lists ambitious quantitative goals to remedy the situation, considerable research and planning needs to be put into the quantitative and content part of the envisaged actions, more elaborated in the recommendation section.
Blog | Involuntary dilemma of Georgia’s children: Labour vs Education
