Ex-President Saakashvili: I loathed my school uniform despite being a top pupil; once we oust them, uniforms will be abolished

“As our children return to school, education is being plagued by a growing list of severe issues. In our time, the introduction of the school resource officer (mandaturi) system put an end to decades of criminal influence in schools and allowed children to learn in a safe environment,” wrote former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili in a social media post.

“Georgian Dream severely restricted the powers of resource officers, cowed them into submission, and allowed extortion, turf wars, and criminality back into schools. No less alarming is the return of petty corruption. During my Soviet childhood, and especially in Shevardnadze’s 1990s, schools suffered from constant money collections and general graft; corruption we subsequently eradicated. Now, collecting cash for everything has returned: for teachers’ birthdays, 8th March gifts, buying curtains, and, of course, private tutoring. Children are being conditioned to accept backhanders as normal, which signals a mental catastrophe,” Saakashvili wrote.

Furthermore, Mikheil Saakashvili emphasised that school uniforms are intended to suppress individuality and freedom.

“Compounding this regression is the introduction of school uniforms, driven by Ivanishvili’s nostalgia (the man loves Soviet Volga cars, so why wouldn’t he love uniforms?). Naturally, tenders for these uniforms are rife with Georgian Dream corruption. The purpose of a uniform is to curb individuality, stifle freedom, and force everyone into a rigid box. Personally, I loathed my school uniform throughout my school years, even though I was always a top student. As soon as we get rid of them, uniforms will be abolished too. I am confident this will happen very soon,” Saakashvili added.