PM: Georgian Diplomas to Be Recognized in EU
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze says Georgian diplomas will be in line with European standards and they will be recognized in the European Union countries.
The PM made the statement during his speech at the event celebrating the accession of the National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement into the European Association for Quality Assurance (ENQA), which promotes European co-operation in the field of quality assurance in higher education and disseminates information and expertise among its members and towards stakeholders in order to develop and share good practice and to foster the European dimension of quality assurance.
The ENQA, formerly the European Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, was established as an organization to represent quality assurance and accreditation for organizations from the European Higher Education Area and internationally.
Before being accepted or being re-confirmed as a member, an applicant agency must satisfy the Board that it meets the criteria for membership: the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG).
Bakhtadze praised the accession to the ENQA as a “historic event” marking Georgia's decisive and far-reaching step towards top standards of higher education.
“We can state without exaggeration that, given the idea of national importance announced by us, education is Georgia's key driving force," the PM said, adding that Georgia's universities will have practically every mechanism to meet every criterion required.
The PM thanked Georgia's European friends and everyone engaged in the process for accepting the country into the ENQA and noted that membership of such an organization is a great responsibility for the country.
“We must actively work to meet every standard and criteria in the shortest possible period. We must channel all our efforts toward quality. It is a great responsibility to have diplomas issued by us recognized as valid in Europe, in line with EU standards and criteria, and we must spare no effort to cherish that," he said.
Bakhtadze underlined that ENQA membership gives Georgia a lot of opportunities and its universities will have a better chance of drawing closer to and cooperating with European schools of higher education.
“Georgian students and faculties will enjoy maximum mobility to work in Europe, to carry out joint scientific projects, and co-operate. All this will be related to enhanced financial resources, which actually is a quarter of the country's budget, and most of these finances will target higher education, our universities," he said.
In accordance with the Association Agreement between Georgia and the European Union, Georgia has taken on the obligation to bring Georgia's higher education system closer to European standards.
In February 2018, Georgia’s National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement stated that it was willing to join the ENQA and last August presented a self-assessment report to the organization.
The ENQA Presidium made a decision on membership of Georgia on April 25 at the annual forum held in Estonia.
By Thea Morrison