Inclusive Education Division, MFA’s Diplomatic Training Institute to be Abolished

The Education Ministry’s Inclusive Education Division, seen as vital in promoting access to education for students with special needs, will no longer operate independently and will instead merge with the Ministry’s Strategic Planning Department.

The Education Ministry confirmed the decision after reports on June 7 described the move as effectively abolishing the division. The Ministry said the decision was made “to optimize and increase efficiency,” but the move had drawn criticism from disability rights advocates, who say the change risks sidelining inclusive education in policy.

“When you abolish it and unite it with other issues, that means this issue [inclusive education] is no longer important to you,” said Ana Sikhashvili, a disability rights activist.

“Inclusive education is built on human rights,” Tamar Jghenti, a former Education Ministry official dismissed on June 7, allegedly as part of what is widely believed to be GD’s political purges, wrote on Facebook on June 8. “When human rights are not a priority for the country, there is no place for inclusive education either.”

The move comes as part of a wider “reorganization” of ministries by the Georgian Dream government.

As of July 1, the Levan Mikeladze Diplomatic Training and Research Institute at the Foreign Ministry will also be abolished. According to a decree signed by GD Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, the Foreign Ministry will assume the Institute’s responsibilities, and a commission will be created to “review and propose options for the future employment” of its staff within the ministry’s system.

President Salome Zurabishvili criticized the move to abolish the Mikeladze Institute, saying that “the common line here is Russia’s dictate and not ‘Georgian interest,’ which they emphasize.”

Previously, it was announced that the NATO and EU Information Center, a public agency, would be abolished and absorbed by the Foreign Ministry.

The Special Investigative Service, tasked with investigating alleged crimes committed by officials, will also be merged into the Prosecutor’s Office, while the country’s Intelligence Service will be incorporated into the State Security Service.

Also Read:

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