Students and teachers get results
By Salome Modebadze
Thursday, August 26
The Committee had received appeals from 2574 entrants, and changed the examination results for 1711 of them (66.5%). “The number of appeals has been low compared with previous years, but unfortunately the majority of the appellants' scores decreased while 712 of those appealing got extra marks,” Maia Miminoshvili said. She added that all the results of the first phase enrollment for the 2010 Unified Entry Exams were available on the NAEC web-page (www.naec.ge) and published in the Kviris Palitra newspaper on August 25. What’s more Magti and Geocell enable their users to receive information about their results by text messaging their registration code to 6236.
“It appeared difficult for the students to achieve the minimum level required in Mathematics and natural-sciences. The 10 000 entrants who couldn’t pass will be automatically removed from the examination process while those who were simply unable to get a high enough score for the relevant universities will have the opportunity to sit exams for more than 11 000 vacant places at different universities in Georgia,” Miminoshvili told the media.
It is noteworthy that 97% of university entrants were present at the Unified National Exams, which is really alarming. The three mandatory exams in Skills and Ability, Georgian Language and Literature and a Foreign Language were followed by a 4th mandatory subject so that each university could choose from seven possible subjects: Literature, Mathematics, History, Geography, Chemistry, Physics and Biology. What’s more the new initiative foresees not only the results from the Skills and Ability test but the total from all four subjects.
Applications for vacancies can be submitted from August 26 to September 2 at Georgian Technical University at 77 Kostava Street in Tbilisi and at regional local Education Resource Centres. Information on obtaining state grants will be announced after the publication of results for the second phase of enrollment.
Analyst Soso Tsiskarishvili told The Messenger that the failure of so many students has been caused by irrelevant values in the educational system in our country. “Changes within the system have been carried out with constant Governmental interference, while the real situation at Georgian schools is alarming. It is no secret how the pupils have been abandoned without relevant attention from “tired” teachers, who can’t find time to talk to their pupils due to so many problems they are facing in their lives,” the analyst told us.
Meanwhile the results of the teachers’ certification exams were also released by the Ministry of Education and Science on the same day. Over 10 000 applicants passed the tests and 6057 of them passed two subjects - general skills and the main teaching subject. In both exams only 1147 achieved the minimum required level of competency. These teachers will be granted certified teacher status – representing 11% of teachers throughout Georgia.
Those who passed only one examination will have their scores reserved until they pass the second examination. Only 702 teachers passed in Georgian language, 408 - in mathematics, 1253 - in a foreign language and 1253 - in general skills. Those who failed to pass will keep their jobs until 2014 and they will have several chances to re-sit the certification examination.
“The main goal of the teachers’ certification exams is to encourage the development of the educational system in our country. I would like to thank all the participants for their interest in the certification process which will be voluntary until 2014 when this process will become mandatory. Most part of participants had taken one subject this year so I expect the number of successful participants to be higher next year,” the Minister of Education and Science Dimitri Shashkin told the media. According to information released by the Minister, the teachers will have the opportunity to practice their knowledge until 2014, so that they will be able to pass the mandatory certification exams defined by the state law.
“From 2014 only certified teachers will work in Georgian schools to ensure the high status of our country's schools. What’s more the results of the participants will have a great impact on their salary – only certified teachers will have the opportunity to work as mentor-teachers for an extra GEL 160. They will also be engaged in the governmental programme: “Teach for Georgia” with tours to regions and GEL 500-1000 as bonuses,” explained Shashkin.
By 2014, all teachers in Georgia must have passed the certification exams but they have fours years in which to practice and pass the exams.
The problem in the educational system according to Soso Tsiskarishvili has been caused by the nihilistic attitude towards professionalism in our country. “The Government of Georgia pays more attention to historical buildings rather than the people who made them historical so that the achievements and values of Georgian science developed through the ages are absolutely destroyed now,” Tsiskarishvili told The Messenger. “The authorities are just trying to hide their illiteracy through pseudo strictness towards both students and teachers by offering them some vague tests with the relevant instructions on how to fill them correctly,” the analyst added regretting that this kind of approach towards individuals is somehow preventing society from discovering the gifted people among the crowd.