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Agents of Insurance Companies Blackmail Teachers

December 23, 2008

Gela Mtivlishvili, Gurjaani

Agents of insurance companies are compelling teachers to sign contracts with insurance companies. The agents are workers of educational-resource centers or their relatives and/or the family members of the employees working at educational resource center; in some instances they are pubic school directors. If teachers do not sign contracts with insurance companies, they are threatened with dismissal from their jobs.  Although Georgian government issued resolution # 256 on November 21 2007 that envisages assigning free medical vouchers to teacher, it is at the discretion of the voucher holder as to which insurance company is selected prior to December 31 2008. The beneficiary shall not be unjustly influenced in making the choice. The Minister of Education provided written instructions about this policy to territorial departments responsible to the ministry about it in written form.

Insurance of teachers and administrative-technical personnel of public schools and vocational institutions started in January of 2008 and it will continue until 2013. In 2008, an insured beneficiary had to pay 10 GEL a month to the Insurance Company; in 2009 the payments increased up to 15 GEL. In 2010-2011 66, 6 % of monthly payment will be paid from the voucher granted that was provided by the state. In 2012-2013 the voucher will cover 33, 3 % of the cost of the payment.

According to the resolution of the government the insurance company shall fund out-patient and hospital treatment of the client except planned hospital service of therapy profile.

The ministry of education started to distribute insurance vouchers for 2009 since December 15 2008. The owners of the vouchers shall select desirable insurance companies and contracts should have been signed before December 31 2008. If owner of voucher will not sign contract with any insurance company, based on the resolution, the contracting company will be selected by the ministry of education.

The owners of the vouchers are free in their choice; the ministry of education informed its territorial branches in written form.

“Beneficiary shall not be influence by administrations or other public officials while making individual choice. If the facts of such violations are observed, the violator will be severely published under administrative law,” stated the letter of Gia Nodia, the former Minister of Education.

Regardless the above-mentioned resolution, the agents of insurance companies who are either employees of the educational resource centers, or their family members or other relatives, or directors of public schools, are compelling pubic school teachers to sign contracts with specific insurance companies. Otherwise, the teachers are threatened with dismissal from their jobs.

“They should have started distribution of vouchers on December 15 2008 but we received vouchers only on December 23, and this was after we protested the delay and had applied to human rights organizations for assistance in the matter. Before that, however, the administration ordered us to sign vouchers after what we automatically become beneficiaries of the Insurance Company “Imedi”,” said a teacher of Public School # 1 in Gurjaani.

Non-governmental organization Human Rights Center became interested in the insurance process for teachers this was after several disgruntled teachers had applied to the HR office for assistance.

Lia Khuroshvili, lawyer for the Human Rights Center: “We were reported from Lagodekhi that the head of the local Educational Resource Center had ordered directors of public schools to compel school teachers to use their vouchers with the insurance company “Imedi”. The reason for such an order is because the coordinator of the Insurance Company in Lagodekhi District, Beso Siradze, who is husband of Manana Chikvaidze, is the head of Lagodekhi district educational resource center. Naturally this represents a conflict of interests.

Teachers told us that if they would not sign contracts with the above-mentioned company that they would face some problems in their jobs; or further morel they would be fired. There are several teachers who did not receive vouchers at all; directors did not give them one and insured them in the company that in fact belongs to them, for example, “Public Insurance”.

The situation got tense between the represetn6atives of two insurance companies in Sighnaghi district “Irao” and “Aldagi BCI”; they even insulted each other. Teachers reported that Nana Darchashvili, specialist of Sighnaghi district educational resource center, categorically demanded that teachers to obtained their  insurance from the company “Irao”; while Elene Shaishmelashvili, the head of district office of the Independent Trade Union of Teachers, categorically protested this pressure. The latter represents “Aldagi BCI” and advises teachers to sign contracts with this company. Teachers of Sighnaghi district schools claim that Saishmelashvili have told them several times that if they would  not become insured under a “Aldagi BCI” policy they should not think about making appeal to the Trade Union in the case directors would take them to task and violate their rights. She, as the chairperson of the district trade union, would not accept their complaints and would not assist them in any manner Elena Shaishmelashvili has not commented on the matter. 

Nika Chikhladze, deputy director general of the Insurance Company “Imedi” denies the alleged pressure to influence teachers by their representatives. “Our agents do not influence teachers. If you have some concrete facts about these violations, you can appeal to us and we will react to it,” said one of the heads of the insurance company.

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