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Public Schools Consolidated to Make Room for IDPs

September 11, 2008

Nona Suvariani, Tbilisi

The Georgian Ministry of Education has started consolidating schools in order to resolve the immediate problems facing IDPs.  Consequently several schools remain free to house the influx of IDPs from Abkhazia and South Ossetia.  Tbilisi Public School # 13 will be joined to Public School # 14. Teachers and parents are against the initiative and state that in this case children will remain in street and not attend school.

Teachers of the public school # 13 learned about “temporary removal” from the school when representatives of the Gldani-Nadzaladevi district administration visited them. They started to count the rooms. The astonished teachers and parents reacted by sending urgent letters to the Ministry of Education and City Hall. However, the response of the officials from the administration was as follows: “You can write and read as much as you want. However, before you get any replies to your letters IDPs will also be settled in these accommodations.”

A total of 350 IDPs settled in that school during the war. Most of them were from Gori and after the war operation finished they returned home. Currently, only 12 families are remaining. Teachers and parents agree to place these families on the third floor and make separate entrance for them. However, the district administration does not agree claiming children and IDPs cannot be in one and the same building. Thus, the administration decided to consolidate Public School # 13 with # 14.

Irma Pantsulaia, the chairwoman of the school board of trustees, recalled that two days ago officials from the district administration visited their school and stated that according to the minister’s decree that their school should be consolidated to public school # 14 (for a period of 3 months).

Irma Pantsulaia: “They suggested us to pack up the equipment and we could return to our building after three months. However, in the evening they called and said that they intended to entirely close down the school, which was planned in the first place – as this was one of the schools that were on the list to be shut down. People said they wanted to sell those buildings and private schools would be opened in their place.  However, I cannot confirm that such information is totally reliable.”

The chairperson of the board of trustees’ states they would obey the order of the minister if he personally meets with the staff of the school.

Khatuna Tsuladze, the chairperson of School Trade Union, is afraid that unifying of schools will result into personnel reduction among teachers and other human resources.

“We protect the interests of teachers and personnel. If schools are unified it will be followed by personnel reduction. We need written confirmation that the school is to be shut down. Otherwise, based on oral statements, we are not willing move to another school.”

Parents also support teachers in their staunch position.

 Inga Varsimashvili, parent: “Today, IDPs from Public School # 141 said that officials from district administration informed them that our school was liquidated and they could settle here. They added that our school would join together with school # 14. We are in protest because that school has too small of classrooms and there are two shifts working there. Thus, if these two schools are unified, our children will have to learn in three shifts. Soon it will be winter, and the third shift would finish very late in the evening, and besides this problem, our children attend extra courses after hours.”

Inga Ghughunishvili, parent: “My oldest son is in the 11th grade. How can I follow him at night; where should I find him?  In addition, the pupils of these two schools always have had controversy between each other.”

Children also speak about this controversy. One of them, Irina Tsiklauri said that they have some arguments with the pupils of the second school almost every day. If these two schools are joined this disagreement will grow even stronger. Besides that, the school # 14 has too little space and cannot find enough room for their own pupils. In addition, the number of pupils attending public school # 13 is greater.

Maia Liparteliani, lawyer for the Trade Union of Teachers and Scientists, stated that other non-prestigious schools of Tbilisi have to cope with such problems as well.

Maia Liparteliani: “The decree of the Minster states that personnel of one school would be placed in another one on only a temporarily basis. Mostly the decree focuses on the schools in Nadzaladevi district where IDPs are removed from one school and taken to another.”

“We have already proffered our remarks on that decision by the ministry of education. It is necessary to create guarantees for teachers that they would receive their salaries; the school would be financed by all means and so forth and so on.”

Resettlement of IDPs from one to another school creates many problems. For example, 700 children from Public School # 12 are moved to the school which can host only 350 pupils. These decisions were made by local authorities spontaneously and without any forethought. Today, I witnessed a situation in Public School # 114. First of all there were a lot of police mobilized in that school in order to settle the IDPs there.  Teachers demanded them to show the decree of the minister based on which they were acting. On the other hand IDPs did not want to go into the building because the conditions are terrible there. Finally, the patrol police broke into the building to lead IDPs in but IDPs did not get out of cars. However, when it gets dark, they will have to settle in the building because in the dark they will not be able to go anywhere.”

The Trade Union demands to establish mobile groups which will find out how many IDPs are really in Georgia; who should return home and who should stay in shelters. Besides that the group will find out the situation in every shelter and the school term will start on October 2, after final assessments of the situation with IDPs is fully determined. 

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