“We should bring in more foreign education in Georgia. The government works actively to open more European and American universities’ branches,” said Giorgi Amilakhvari, Minister of Education and Science in the Tavisupali Khedva (Free Vision) Program of the GPB’s First Channel.

The Minister said branch universities with their partner institutions will carry out joint programs and issue dual diplomas, otherwise, “we will not follow the pace of the world development taking place in the high education sector.”

Giorgi Amilakhvari went on to say that the labour market would determine the priority directions of education programs. He said high demand had already defined some trends – tourism, agriculture, energy, transport, and construction that mainly form the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The Minister clarified that currently, the universities exist and function predominantly via the tuition fees from students. He stressed that the key reform that had to be implemented in the education system was to modify the financing model, which would take one or two years.

“This, naturally, will take us from quantity to quality in higher education that is the target,” said Giorgi Amilakhvari.