Saakashvili Pledges Support to Georgian Teachers in Gali
President Saakashvili said on December 12 that the authorities will spare no efforts to support teachers of Georgian schools in the Gali district of breakaway Abkhazia.
He warned that the Georgian authorities will not tolerate ?oppression? against Georgians who live this secessionist-controlled district.
?The Georgian state will protect these people to the end. It is no longer the year 1998,? President Saakashvili said, referring to the year when thousands of Georgians were forced to leave Gali after a sporadic clashes between Georgian and Abkhaz militia groups. Saakashvili was speaking at an opening ceremony of a new school in Zugdidi, a few kilometers away from Gali.
Saakashvili?s remarks were a clear response to a recent TV report focusing on the social hardships of Georgian teachers working for the local schools in this predominantly Georgian-populated district of breakaway Abkhazia.
On December 10, Imedi TV?s weekly program Droeba (Times) showed angry teachers complaining about low salaries ? GEL 30 per month (about USD 17,5) – and the failure of authorities in Tbilisi to pay even these small salaries for over a year.
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