Georgia: eight Tbilisi principals sacked after schoolchildren's protest action

For several days in a row, senior pupils of several Tbilisi schools were holding actions with a demand from the Ministry of Education and Sciences to cancel the eight certification exams introduced during this school year. The last action of this sort was held on November 9.

Soon after the action it became known that principals of eight Tbilisi schools were dismissed; however, Dmitri Shashkin, Minister of Education and Sciences of Georgia, asserts that the principals applied for resignation on their own. "It was their decision; the Ministry didn't intervene," the "Georgia Online" quotes the Minister.

However, Teya Tutberidze, a representative of the Liberty Institute and Chair of the Association of Principals, asserts, in her turn, that the principals were forced to resign. According to her version, the eight school directors were invited to the General Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education, where they were "offered" to leave their posts. The supposed reason is in participation of their pupils in the protest action at the parliament building and Ministry of Education and Sciences.

On November 9, pupils of the 11th-12th forms stated in the course of the action that the decision of the Ministry of Education to introduce eight school certification exams this summer was a surprise for them.

The pupils stated at the action that they are not against education, but introduction of such innovations for high school pupils right now is not justified, because pupils are getting ready to the unified nationwide examinations and orient themselves towards particular subjects of these examinations.

At the action, pupils of Tbilisi schools were supported by the opposition youth group "Ara" (No), the IA "News-Georgia" reports.

Dmitri Shashkin said in his comment on the demands of higher school pupils that nobody would cancel the certification exams; moreover, the questions at them are rather simple and require minimum knowledge from graduates.