Ombudsman Urges NAEC to Schedule Additional National Exam for Absent Applicant

According to the Public Defender of Georgia, the decision of the National Assessment and Examination Center (NAEC) not to give an additional exam to one of the applicants despite a health problem is considered an unjustified restriction of the applicant’s constitutionally guaranteed right to higher education.

Today, the Ombudsman sent a recommendation to the National Assessment and Examination Center, asking it to promptly hold an additional history exam to ensure the constitutional right.

The applicant was due to take the history test on July 17, but having undergone a surgical tooth extraction the day before, developed a high fever on the day of the test. His mother contacted the NAEC the following day requesting that the applicant be allowed to take an additional history test. On July 21, the director of the National Assessment and Examination Center announced July 25 as the date for the additional examination, although a letter containing this information had been sent to the applicant’s parents on July 24 and received by them on July 25. As a result, the applicant was unable to attend the additional examination.

The applicant’s representative in court, Partnership for Human Rights (PHR), appealed to the Tbilisi City Court on July 26, and the judge issued a decision within 24 hours, ordering the NAEC to schedule an additional examination for the applicant. However, on August 2, the administrative body refused to enforce the court’s interim decision, claiming that the examination process had already been completed and that “it is impossible to admit an applicant to the examination that had already been conducted”.

On the same day, a parent of the applicant announced a hunger strike in protest against the National Assessment and Examination Center. In an interview with Formula TV, she said that she would use her “remaining right to life” and would continue to protest until she received an answer to this “fraud”. On August 3, PHR filed a complaint with the Ministry of the Interior against the examination center and applied to the National Bureau of Enforcement with a request for the enforcement of court’s order.

Today’s statement by the Public Defender reads that as a result of the study of the case it was determined that “when considering the issue of the applicant’s admission to the additional history test, the National Assessment and Examination Center violated the principle of fair administrative proceedings and “good governance” and did not inform the applicant of the date of the additional history test within a reasonable time”.

In addition, “the Public Defender believes that the administrative body still has time to ensure the participant’s right to receive higher education and to implement the preliminary decision of the Administrative Chamber of the Tbilisi City Court issued on July 27, 2023. There are no objective factual and legal circumstances preventing the said action”.

The Ombudsman of Georgia urges the NAEC to take into account this recommendation in the future and “when considering any case of restriction of rights, to act in full compliance with the requirements of the law and to duly inform those whose interests may be affected by the decision”.

National Assessment and Examination Center’s response

On August 17, the National Assessment and Examination Center responded to the yesterday’s recommendation of the Public Defender. NAEC declares that it acted in full compliance with the legislation regarding the appointment of additional exam sessions. According to them, on July 18 the request for an additional examination was made by an unauthorized person (parent). In order to correct this deficiency, in accordance with the requirements of Article 83 of the General Administrative Code of Georgia, a letter was sent to the applicant on July 21, who appealed to the court on July 27 and submitted the court decision to the Center the next day.

The National Assessment and Examination Center notes that it could not enforce the court’s decision because the additional session of the history exam was held on July 25 and the test questions used had already been published on the center’s website. “In view of the above, the Center has appealed against the court’s preliminary ruling and explained in detail the impossibility of enforcing the decision,” the NAEC’s statement reads, emphasizing that “there is no legal basis for implementing the recommendation [of the Ombudsman] within the framework of the 2023 Unified National Exams.”

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