A protest rally is currently taking place near the Ministry of Education of Georgia.

Students and faculty members of Ilia State University are participating in the demonstration.

The protesters are voicing their opposition to the Georgian government’s decision, which stipulates that admissions to Ilia State University will be announced solely for pedagogy programmes and STEM specialities with ABET accreditation.

Dean of the Faculty of Sciences and Arts at Ilia State University, Associate Professor Nino Mataradze, states that the decision to allocate quotas effectively means suspending the university’s full operation.

“For us, this decision and the announced changes are entirely unacceptable. I emphasise that none of these changes was discussed or agreed upon with the university beforehand. This clearly indicates that the reform was not prepared with the involvement of academic staff, students, or educational experts. The latest decision, which we learned of yesterday, essentially entails the suspension of Ilia State University’s full functioning. It is unthinkable to implement such programmes in isolation, without the ability to collaborate across disciplines or to utilise the research and educational resources we previously had. One of the strengths of our university has always been its capacity for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research.

We believe that all legal avenues must be pursued. We demand a meeting and answers to our questions. Accordingly, we intend to utilise all legal means to safeguard the university’s autonomy, which is now under significant threat. A substantial portion of our academic staff has expressed a desire to meet and seek answers to questions that have so far gone unanswered,” Mataradze added.