School Online Consultation Now Available for Foreigners

Non-Governmental Organization ‘The Schools Research Center’ has been involved in school education issues for the past three years. It launched an Online Consultation project for parents, students, teachers and school administration in September 2015, not only serving locals, but also foreign residents and guests in Georgia.

In recent years, the number of foreign visitors coming for long-stays in Georgia has grown. When moving to an unknown city parents face the challenge of finding and choosing the right school for their children. Questions they typically ask: Which school to choose? Are there any specialized schools? Are there any which teach in my native language? Where are they? What conditions do they offer?

“In fact, there are so many nuances to take into consideration. Not only each country, but even each school may have its own rules and conditions. Our goal is to answer the questions of all our potential pupils and their parents and to give them the right advice,” said Mukhran Guliashvili, Director of the Schools Research Center.

“For example, a while back, the State did not fund the education of foreign citizens in public schools. It turned out that the parents of these children had to pay in both private and public schools. Now this rule has been abolished and public schools are free of charge for foreigners, too. But there is still a lot of information that foreigners need to know,” Guliashvili said.

The Schools Research Center began operating in Georgia in 2013. They began by studying the school system, local as well as foreign institutions. According to the director of the Center, what they found out gave them the competence to create the Online Consultation service.

The staff of the Online Consultation service includes specialists of all structural divisions of the school, including amongst others a former director of one of the leading schools of Tbilisi, the representative of school administration, a psychologist, and a foreign specialist.

Thus, the Online Consultation service covers all areas and is able to provide advice in legal issues, school administration management and offer psychosocial support. All you need to do is visit the official website of the Schools Research Center (http://rcs.ge/), fill in the form and staff will promptly contact you.

“We always try to have an individual approach to each question we receive. If it’s a ‘frequently asked question,’ we immediately respond. If the issue requires a detailed study and consultations with experts, we provide an answer within ten days,” said Guliashvili.

The idea of creating the Online Consultation service came because the school staff, parents and pupils were clearly lacking information. During the Center’s operation, it repeatedly received questions about a variety of topics, and therefore it was decided to structure the process.

“It turned out that consultation is needed even for the simplest things. We help teachers to deal with the changes in the education system, make better class management, acquaint them with foreign examples, and inform them about innovations,” noted Guliashvili. “Pupils ask as about exchange programs, many parents want to know detailed information about different schools in Georgia, where to go in case of problems and many other issues,” he said. “We are there to answer their concerns.”

Eka Karsaulidze