Youth from minority communities in Georgia increasingly interested in learning Georgian through multilingual education, OSCE HCNM-commissioned study concludes
Young people from ethnic minority communities in Georgia are increasingly interested in learning the Georgian language as a means to improve their socio-economic opportunities, the “Research Study on Multilingual Education in Georgia” commissioned by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) concluded.
The HCNM and Georgia’s Education Ministry presented the conclusions of the research on 7 October 2015 in Tbilisi. Representatives of the departments of the Education Ministry that deal with minority education and civil society discussed the approaches that should be taken to promote integration through education in Georgia.
According to the school directors, many of the original pilot schools offering multilingual education have continued to provide a bilingual education programme with the resources available to them. However, according to the study, more consistency in the implementation of multilingual education is needed and co-ordination between the Ministry, its subordinated structures and the schools is required.
In addition, the study recommended that research should be undertaken into ways to improve bilingual textbooks and into developing different approaches to multilingual education based on the demographics in different regions.
The research, carried out in February and March 2015, sought to identify progress in the implementation of multilingual education policy and the effectiveness of the activities carried out in this field. During an extensive one-month field trip to the regions of Samtskhe Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli, where minorities reside in substantial numbers, more than 140 teachers took part in a survey and the directors of 20 former pilot schools were interviewed. Interviews were also conducted with education specialists in Tbilisi and the regions.
The research will contribute to the development of a new policy for minority education, which is currently being drafted by the Education Ministry.