Giorgi Amilakhvari Replaces Mikheil Chkhenkeli as Minister of Education and Science
Giorgi Amilakhvari, the former chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Education and Science and the former MP of “Georgian Dream”, replaced Mikheil Chkhenkeli as the Minister of Education and Science of Georgia. Giorgi Amilakhvari is one of the 76 MPs of the ruling majority who voted for the Russian-style bill “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” in the first reading.
According to the administration of the Georgian government, Mikheil Chkhenkeli, who held the post of Minister of Education for the second time since November 2019, will continue his work as the chairman of the International Advisory Board of Kutaisi International University, founded by Bidzina Ivanisvhvili. Chkhenkeli’s resignation was preceded by large-scale protests against the “foreign agents” bills, in which students were actively involved.
Irakli Garibashvili, the Prime Minister of Georgia, introduced the new Minister of Education at a briefing today, where he thanked the former Minister for his work and said that Mikheil Chkhenkeli had left his post by his personal decision and desire to return to academic activities.
Speaking about the newly appointed Minister of Education, the Prime Minister said that he has had “successfully led” the Committee on Education and Science, as well as “a number of important initiatives”. According to Irakli Garibashvili, Giorgi Amilakhvari, who “has been involved in the field of education for many years”, “is very familiar with the situation at all levels of education, the challenges that remain in the education system”. “He has a very good vision, he knows very well how to solve them, and I think that Giorgi will be a very successful minister,”- added Prime Minister.
New Minsiter’s Vision
For his part, Giorgi Amilakhvari thanked Prime Minister Gharibashvili and his team for their trust and said it was a “great honor” for him to lead the direction of education and science. “Under our government, a lot has been done in the direction of education and science, but there are still a number of challenges and problems that need a quick response and solution,” he said.
“From today, I will start an active communication with all the people involved in the field of education and science: children, parents, teachers, school administrators, professors, young people and students, and our scientists, to discuss the problems and challenges that we have today in this field, and as a result of the feedback received, we will make quick and immediate solutions. “The new minister stressed.
According to him, the wish of the management team is “to offer the best to our children in schools. Therefore, we will work actively and quickly in this regard. We want to and will certainly create dignified conditions for our deserving teachers, and this will be an important step in raising the dignity and popularization of the teaching profession”.
Giorgi Amilakhvari also emphasized the importance of providing “additional social and financial support mechanisms” for students with high academic performance, adding that “we will help them to successfully complete the educational process.
The newly appointed Minister identified vocational training as one of the main priorities and said: “In the near future, we will offer you a concrete vision of how we will transform this area and what specific and simple mechanisms we will offer employers to engage in vocational training.”
“The results achieved over the past few years have already given us the opportunity to actively work on establishing Georgia as a center of attraction for education in the region, attracting more foreign students and professors to Georgia, which is directly related to the increase in the quality of our education and direct investment in education,” Giorgi Amilakhvari emphasized, adding that he will soon present concrete plans and visions in different directions to the public.
Biography of Giorgi Amilakhvari
According to the information published on the website of the Parliament, in 2018-2019 Giorgi Amilakhvari, who holds a PHD in law, held the position of deputy chairman of the Board of Accreditation of Educational Programs. In addition, in 2010-2020 he was Vice-Rector, Rector, Associate Professor of Tbilisi Open University. Previously, in 2008-2010, he worked as the chief lawyer in the Georgian branch of the Lithuanian investment company “Saverus” LLC (“Saverus Georgia”). In addition, in 2007-2008 he worked as the main specialist on European and Euro-Atlantic integration issues in the Office of the State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.
Giorgi Amilakhvari was elected to the Parliament of the 10th convocation on the party list of “Georgian Dream”. Accordingly, he will be replaced in the legislative body by the next number of the list.
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