OSCE High Commissioner helps Georgia's ethnic Armenians improve education opportunities
Learning Georgian
In Javakheti, where 95 per cent of the population is ethnic Armenian, the problem is acute. Most of the area's residents speak only Armenian and Russian. As a result, in 2005, only 2 out of 25 applicants from the area passed the entrance exams.
But thanks to a programme initiated by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, young Javakheti residents now have more opportunities to learn Georgian, increasing their chances of passing the exams and being able to stay in the country.
Georgian was initially only taught to civil servants, for whom "Language Houses" were established in Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda. Faced with the 2005 entrance exam results, however, it was decided to open language courses for students as well.
"The majority of applicants from the area know only the Georgian alphabet and a few words, but they are very motivated," says Keti Naskhidashvili, Co-ordinator of the Ninotsminda Language House. "And lately, attitudes towards the language have changed significantly." Her students rarely miss class and do their homework diligently.
Motivated students
Specialized programmes for young applicants have already had an impact. In 2006, 19 out of 34 Javakheti residents passed the university admission exams, with only three failing the language component. A nine-fold improvement compared with the previous year. Furthermore, in 2005, they took only a simplified version of the exam, while in 2006, they took the same test as all applicants.
"We train our students to sit the language tests," says Shorena Tetvadze, Co-ordinator of the Akhalkalaki Language House. "We have developed our own teaching methodology, focusing on grammar, as students find it especially difficult to read fiction in Georgian."
Staying in Georgia
Before 2005, the majority of Javakheti's young people had to go to Armenia or Russia to further their education. But because many Javakheti residents speak a dialect and therefore have a limited mastery of literary Armenian, they have also experienced difficulties gaining access to Armenian institutions.
"We don't want to go abroad - we are children of this country," says 18 year-old Silva Danielyan.
Danielyan is studying Georgian because she wants to enter the Akhalkalaki branch of the Tbilisi State University. She doesn't yet know which subject she will apply for, but her main interest is in the humanities. Although she hasn't quite mastered the language yet, she still has six months ahead of her to improve.
Another student, Gurgen Esoyan, looks through the pages of his book to find his homework. "I want to be a judge," he says, "and I'd like to study law either in Akhalkalaki or Tbilisi."
Coping with demand
In the past, there was little interest in learning the state language, but now there is a shortage of teachers in Javakheti as demand increases by the day. Some students walk several kilometres from their villages to attend classes.
Elmira Kspoyan is Assistant Co-ordinator at the Ninotsminda Language House: "A year ago, we went from door to door to enlist students, explaining to young people the importance of learning the state language. Today, the number of students wanting to enroll is so high that we had to turn down some 20 applicants." She is upset to have to turn away such keen young people.
Georgia's Ministry of Education and the OSCE High Commissioner have been working together to meet the growing demand. In 2005, a new textbook was introduced for students from grades 7 to 11 based on an interactive methodology, while regional teachers of Georgian in minority schools were also offered training courses.
A brighter future
Thanks to these efforts and the success of the 2006 applicants, more young ethnic Armenians from Javakheti are expected to take next year's admission exams. Both teachers and the OSCE High Commissioner's office are hopeful that, as a result, more of them will be able to enter Georgian higher education institutions.