Georgia’s 5th President, Salome Zurabishvili, sharply criticized the new education reform announced by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, likening it to his previous anti-European stance on November 28, 2024. Zurabishvili claimed that the reform effectively severs Georgia from the European education system.
The new reform introduces a 3+1 higher education cycle, replacing the long-standing Bologna Process structure of 3+2+3. Georgia’s exit from the Bologna Process, which had for twenty years allowed Georgian students to access and succeed in top European universities, will result in the loss of degree equivalencies and the country’s withdrawal from the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).
“Yesterday, Kobakhidze’s statement disconnects us not only from a European political future but also from the European education system,” Zurabishvili wrote on social media. She criticized the government’s inconsistency, noting that while teachers in smaller towns like Gori may be sent to Russia for training, children of the elite continue to attend expensive European or American universities.
Image: IPN
Related story: EU official warns education reform may isolate Georgian students from Europe
