Ambassador of SDG 4: Quality Education

We should achieve the goal of quality education by 2030. How would you explain the quality of education, and do you think we can achieve this goal in Georgia? 

I often think about the quality of education and its vitality. I am not an education expert who knows exactly where the solution is. However, like many of our citizens, I see that we need more quality education, and we reap the consequences every day. 

Just as a house without foundation cannot be built, it is the same in forming an educated, cultured, and modern person. It becomes too late if school education does not nurture a child’s basic values and moral orientations. 

The formation of a person starts at an early age, and the change should start at school. I travel a lot all over Georgia and see the sad reality that the main problem lies in the school. Where we have a quality school education, the profession of schoolteacher is prestigious and valued; if those people who work in schools are those whose true calling is to teach, then everything will change for the good. 

During school education, students choose their future profession in the last grades. However, the biggest challenge is that the education a student receives is different from the job market demand. What do you think can be the solution to this challenge? 

The solution lies where the problem is. This is the Soviet consciousness and mentality, and we have not yet managed to get rid of the legacy of such a mentality. I remember when I became a student, all school children aged 17-18 entered university immediately after graduating. In other countries, I found that this was not the case. How is it possible for a 17-18-year-old youngster to know what profession to pursue? One might search and still be unable to find a suitable profession for an entire lifetime. Tertiary education is not necessary for everyone because learning is not that easy. That is why, in Georgia, we have a lot of people with diplomas but very few true professional and qualified people. 

Who do you think is responsible for the quality of education? It is evident that it is the state, but who else can play an important role? 

The primary responsibility lies with the state. Teachers should have the highest salaries in Georgia. There is no profession more important than teaching. Therefore, the state should value the profession the most. Ilia Chavchavadze founded the “Society for Spreading Literacy Among Georgians” to provide remuneration to the smartest, most talented, and most educated Georgians, including Vazha-Pshavela so that the children would have the best teachers at school. A government which prioritizes schools, the education sector, and teachers is a good government for me. Every person who does not value education and schools is evil, and vice versa. 

In addition to the State, business also plays an important role in education in various European countries and the United States. What do you think the role of business is in achieving quality education in Georgia? 

Ilia Chavchavadze believed that economic development and social welfare depended on trade development. The term “business” was not used at that time. This is a relatively new area for Georgians. The Georgian businessman appeared at the end of the 20th century. Before that, there were few such Georgians, such as the great Georgian philanthropist Davit Sarajishvili, the Zubalashvili brothers, Giorgi Kartvelishvili, and others. Until the second half of the 19th century, trade in Georgia was considered shameful. We were the people of the land; our main job was the vineyard, not trade. In his memoirs, Niko Nikoladze gives examples of how shameful trade was for Georgians until the second half of the 19th century. Therefore, it isn’t easy to lead the process correctly. That is why it is not accidental that a successful and financially profitable business in Georgia can be run by a person who is neither educated nor cultured. We still have a post-Soviet, primitive system, where people have property and wealth based not on what they earn but on what they take away from the State or other people. Doing business is a relatively new practice, which will be reassessed as time passes. There was a break in Georgia – the entrepreneurship process was put to a halt during the Soviet period – otherwise, if Davit Sarajishvili had successors, we would be a fantastic country. We skipped a century, and now we are starting over again. 

How can different sectors work together to achieve the goal of quality education, and who do you think are the key actors? 

Hopefully, the state will primarily recognize the utmost importance of schools, and businesses will realize that they should invest in education. We cannot obligate the government alone. A person cannot be happy alone, with his money, isolated within fences. You cannot be happy inside the fence if society is not prosperous and happy. Therefore, the most appropriate solution would be investing funds in this cooperation, primarily in school education. This is the best solution. 

What would you recommend to society? What should society do to achieve the goal of quality education in Georgia? 

Society must demand it. We talk about the future, and our toasts are also about the future, but we must ask for today. Let us all request that major changes are introduced in the school system.