Papuashvili: Georgia’s university reform is Estonian model, perhaps ambassador disapproves of his own country’s higher education

“It is regrettable that Estonia has, to all intents and purposes, declared Georgia an enemy and has been doing so for quite some time now. The hostile stance adopted by the Estonian authorities towards Georgia is profoundly concerning, especially considering the warm regard we have for the Estonian people. The Estonian government, however, has adopted an unmistakably hostile outlook towards Georgia,” said the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili.

Papuashvili was responding to a question about his assessment of the Estonian Ambassador’s public declaration of solidarity with Ilia State University.

In Papuashvili’s view, it is frankly ridiculous that Estonia’s Ambassador should be intervening so crudely and cynically in matters of Georgian education reform.

He went further, pointing out that the higher education reform currently being implemented in Georgia is, in substance, the Estonian model, making it all the more absurd that Estonia’s own Ambassador should be attacking the very transition towards it.

“Allow me to remind you that the Estonian authorities have declared 102 individuals personae non gratae, very nearly half the government, half the parliament, half the judiciary, and goodness knows who else they may have missed. That is, of course, a hostile act. Estonia is being used to register bogus entities, organisations that have re-registered there from Georgia are maintaining fictitious registrations on Estonian soil. The Estonian authorities appear to be actively facilitating the circumvention of Georgian law. Whether they are also providing funding, I cannot say, but here, too, the hostility towards Georgia is plain to see.

It is utterly farcical that the person intervening in Georgia’s education reform is the future Estonian Ambassador to Armenia, who is still here for the moment, but clearly already sees himself as Tallinn’s man in Yerevan, and doing so in the most heavy-handed, cynical fashion imaginable.

The supreme irony is this: the reform now being carried out in Georgia is, in practice, the Estonian model. Georgian higher education is moving towards the Estonian system. And it is precisely this transition that Estonia’s Ambassador is attacking.

Perhaps he disapproves of his own country’s higher education system. If we look at universities with full three-cycle provision including doctoral level, Estonia has seven in total, six state institutions and one private. Georgia, if I am not mistaken, has around 54 fully functioning universities, of which 15 are state, and roughly 40 are private. Seven universities against fifty-four.

Estonian universities consistently rank within the top three hundred globally, whereas Georgian state universities remain well beyond the thousandth position. Do you know why? Because Estonia carried out precisely this reform years ago, consolidating universities, introducing specialisation, establishing a single medical university for the entire country, concentrating scientific endeavour and funding. That is exactly what the Georgian government is doing now.

And today, Estonia’s Ambassador is attacking the Estonian model. I can think of no greater cynicism. Does he imagine we are ignorant of what system exists in Estonia and what exists here? What could be more cynical than that, setting aside, of course, the fact that this conduct constitutes a clear violation of Article 41 of the Vienna Convention. Though what can one expect of Estonia’s Ambassador when his own superior, the Estonian Foreign Minister, was out here leading protest rallies? I very much doubt the Vienna Convention carries any weight with them whatsoever,” said Shalva Papuashvili.