Ivane Matachvariani on Financing Education

“Funding of the sphere of education will gradually increase to 6% of the total GDP of our budget by 2022,” stated Ivane Matchavariani, the Minister of Finance of Georgia at a briefing held after the governmental session on April 4.

The Minister noted that as a result of the government initiative, a project of changes has been prepared for the legislation about the budget, according to which it is obligatory to prepare and approve a governmental budget project in such a way that the funding of the education system is not less than 6% of the total GDP for the upcoming year. Matchavarinani also stated that education is set as the major priority for the government.

“The budget for 2022 should be set in a way that 6% of the GDP is spent on the education sphere. In order for funding to reach this value, it is important to increase financing gradually. The financial assistance for the education sector will reach 2 billion GEL by 2020, 2.5 billion GEL by 2021, while it will exceed 3 billion GEL by 2022. General, preschool, and professional education will represent the main directions of the reform. The budget for higher education and sciences will also be increased,” noted the Minister.

Matchavariani stated that according to the growth of the country’s GDP in 2020-2022, the total budget of the education sphere will reach 3.4 billion GEL.

“Various studies demonstrate that we have a low indicator in the general education direction on both the regional and global scale. This means that the functions of schools need to be fundamentally revised. More independence should be provided in the knowledge obtained at school and the school certificate should be given much more importance,” he said.

The Minister focused on the importance of improving school infrastructure, augmentation of the qualification of teachers and provision of teachers with the relevant salaries.

“Construction of new schools, as well as the modernization of current infrastructure, is vital, necessitating major finances. These expenses are envisaged in the budget. The number of pupils per class is certainly one of the major components and it is of crucial importance to establish modern standards in this regard. It is also significant to interest youngsters and motivate them in terms of starting work at schools in future. The profession of a teacher has to be one of the most popular in the country. That is why implementation of these components is the key for the success of these reforms,” Matchavariani concluded.

Translated by Ketevan Kvaratskheliya