The Messenger
Thursday, August 23, 2007, #161 (1428)
Lomaia: no chance of an Armenian-language university in Samstke-Javakheti
By Ana Kvrivishvili
Minister of Education and Science Kakha Lomaia rejected a Yerevan
proposal to open an Armenian university in Samtskhe-Javakheti, a
Georgian province with a large ethnic Armenian population.
"Our citizens, the ethnic Armenians living in Akhalkalaki,
Ninitsminda, and other regions can wholly satisfy their educational
needs in Georgian universities," Lomaia told journalists on August 22.
Last week, the Armenian Minister of Education and Science Levon
Mkrtichian said he would push for a new Armenian-language university
in the province when he meets with Lomaia in Yerevan. He had
previously proposed the project in talks with Georgian Prime Minister
Zurab Noghaideli.
The Armenian Embassy in Tbilisi confirmed the initiative, but said
they would reserve comment until the two education ministers had a
chance to talk about it in person.
Susana Khachaturian of the NGO Shushanike, which advocates for ethnic
Armenian women’s and education rights in Georgia, told the Messenger
that university applicants who don’t speak Georgian-like many of the
ethnic Armenians in the impoverished Samtskhe-Javakheti province-have
little hope of getting a higher education.
"For them, it’s impossible to pass the national entrance exams,"
Khachaturian said.
Head of the Union of Armenian Youth of Georgia, Mikhail Avakian,
agreed that some ethnic Armenians face hurdles in education.
"Georgian-speaking Armenians have no problems at all…Russian and
Armenian-speaking Armenians, however, have a lot of difficulties
getting an education," Avakian told the Messenger.
Khachaturian said she would welcome an Armenian-language university in
the province, but that it would be more helpful in integrating ethnic
Armenians if the Georgian government opened it, rather than Armenia.
Education Ministry spokeswoman Keti Chkhobadze, however, reiterated
Minister Lomaia’s statement that there would be no serious discussion
between Tbilisi and Yerevan about opening an Armenian-language
university in Samtskh-Javakheti.
Instead, the ministry is planning to create Georgian-language prep
courses for ethnic Armenian, Ossetian and Azeri university applicants.
"Ethnic minorities in our country will have everything they need to
learn Georgian. The courses will be free, plus applicants taking the
courses will get scholarships of GEL 100," Chkhobadze said.