SAAKASHVILI ON INTEGRATION OF ETHNIC MINORITY GROUPS

The FINANCIAL
Dec 23 2008
Georgia

The FINANCIAL — According to Civil Georgia, the Georgian government
will undertake additional measures to help ethnic minority groups
to learn the Georgian language, which will further foster their
integration process, President Saakashvili said on December 22.

Saakashvili was speaking at a meeting with the staff of Georgian
public TV’s news bulletins produced in the languages of ethnic minority
groups – including Armenian and Azerbaijani.

"We should take additional steps in the direction of integration. We
should enhance process of learning of the national language – Georgian
– in the regions populated by ethnic minorities – I would say the
so-called ethnic minorities, because I do not agree with this term, I
do not think that they are either minorities, or we should distinguish
them by their ethnicity," Saakashvili said.

"We should strengthen learning of the Georgian language in Javakheti,
Kvemo Kartli and other regions of Georgia, where the representatives
of various ethnic groups live," he added.

Large groups of ethnic Armenians and Azerbaijanis reside in
Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli regions, respectively.

"Until now this process was ongoing very slowly despite my calls
and numerous instructions," he continued. "I contacted the Education
Minister today and I instruct the government to increase the salaries
of those persons, who teach in the areas populated by ethnic groups,
up to GEL 1,000 if they work at full time. It will enable us to
attract professionals to teach there."

He said that entry exams for would-be students from ethnic minority
groups should not be of the same standards as for the native Georgian
speakers.

"It is not correct to set similar conditions for them and for the
rest of the Georgian population. It was a serious shortcoming of the
educational reform. We should improve this shortcoming. We should give
them special privileges while passing entry exams. Several hundreds
of representatives of ethnic groups should study at the Georgian
higher educational institutions under the simplified programs,"
Saakashvili said.

He said that the authorities should create incentives for the ethnic
minority groups to stay in Georgia and continue their study in the
local universities, instead of going to Baku and Yerevan.

"We are now developing a special program – there will be special
scholarships, special privileges for studying the language to ensure
that the best intellectual resources available in Kvemo Kartli,
Javakheti and other regions of Georgia study at the Georgian higher
educational institutions," Saakashvili said.

He also said that the authorities should promote cultural exchanges
between the various regions of Georgia. "For example, we should send
delegations from Kvemo Kartli to Adjara, either from Javakheti to
Kvemo Kartli, and so on, in order to get acquainted with the culture
of each other," he said.

"Time of Georgia’s de-occupation will come and the unity, which we
have created among various ethnic groups, various languages, various
cultures, should say its decisive word, because our enemy has failed
to label us as chauvinists, nationalists or blame us for pursuing
ethnic discrimination policy. They failed because this is something
totally unacceptable for the present Georgian authorities, for me
personally, for our nation and multi-ethnic society," Saakashvili
said. "Our multi-ethnicity is not our weakness; it is Georgia’s
greatest wealth and strength. For this purpose, we will allocate
additional funds. The Ministry of Culture has been instructed to
popularize our multi-ethnic culture inside and outside the country."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress