Georgian Dream announced a major reshuffle of public university programs under its “one city, one faculty” plan, shifting some disciplines to specific universities while effectively eliminating others at key institutions.
Under the plan, Tbilisi State University is set to serve again as the “mother university,” while Ilia State University, one of the country’s major institutions with a government-critical rector and academic staff, will retain only pedagogy and STEM disciplines.
Speaking at a February 12 briefing, Georgian Dream Education Minister Givi Mikanadze said that the move, which is part of a widely disputed university reform, aims to align higher education with labor market needs.
“Today, student quotas for Georgia’s higher education institutions were approved, based for the first time since independence on labor market analysis,” he said, arguing that student enrollment has not often matched labor market needs, leaving graduates with limited opportunities.
“As a result of labor market research, we already know how many students it is advisable to enroll in universities for specific specialties,” he said, adding, “Accordingly, this year, student enrollment will be largely based on labor market demands.”
Below are the key public universities and the disciplines they will offer under Georgian Dream’s changes:
Mikanadze further said that arts and sports universities will accept students in “relevant disciplines,” universities in Batumi and Kutaisi will retain a “multifunctional” focus, while institutions in Zugdidi, Gori, Akhaltsikhe, and Telavi will emphasize “agrarian studies, tourism, and pedagogy.”
According to Mikanadze, the reallocation “largely reflects each university’s traditional profile,” making Tbilisi State University the “mother university.”
“As a result of the changes, Tbilisi State University will regain its status as the ‘mother university,'” Mikanadze said, adding that while TSU “will not be the only public university in Georgia,” it will regain its “original mission as the leading, multi-disciplinary university in the capital,” a role he said was “partly lost after developments in the 1990s and stripped entirely during 2004-2012 under the targeted policies of the then-government.”
The new allocation, however, also means major public institutions, including Georgian Technical University and Ilia State University, will lose a number of disciplines and faculties they currently offer.
“The decision effectively dismantles Ilia State University,” Giorgi Gvalia, deputy rector of Ilia State University, wrote on Facebook.
The move comes days after Georgian Dream scrapped the merger of Georgian Technical University with Tbilisi State University, a plan opposed by students and professors at both institutions.
