The new Georgian Law on Higher Education, approved in August 2009, intended to place all HEIs, public and private, on equal footing. It seems, however, it has also opened the door for increased government intervention and standardization.
According to
the Financial, the online Georgian paper, “The educational system in Georgia has become more authoritarian, meaning private universities have no freedom to act,” says Natela Doghonadze, Vice-president of International Black Sea University (IBSU), a private HEI.
The recent changes in the education system place all universities on equal footing. The question arises, if the same program of study and evaluation system are applied in all HEIs, how will these affect competition between private and public universities, and what will the main basis of differentiation be in the future.
Standardized Grading Schemes
“There are some specificities in student recruitment norms, the evaluation and grading system,” says Nugzar Skhirtladze, head of the quality assurance department of Caucasus University.
In terms of their grading policies, CU and GAU have a minimum threshold of 60 percent (on 100 grading scale), whereas the Minister’s new decree reduces the passing limit to only 51 percent.
“It has been established that 51 percent should be the minimum passing grade and it is now obligatory that universities impose this policy,” says Skhirtladze.
“Lecturers are dissatisfied by the 51 percent limit as they think this does not ensure that students have sufficient knowledge in their subjects,” says Doghonadze, IBSU.
Standardized CalendarAnother change relates to the academic calendar. All HEIs are now supposed to provide a total of 38-45 weeks of academic work per anum. Michael Cowgill, President of Georgian American University (GAU) speaks of the problem that might arise due to the decreased number of holidays.
“What this 19-week semester schedule does is that it limits the number of classes you can take in summer. In the regulation, students have the right to re-take a subject, if they have previously failed or want to improve their grade. GAU, like other universities, has used the summer semester as a time when you can re-take courses so as not to disrupt your regular annual schedule,” Cowgill added.
In response, Mariam Gersamia, head of the Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia claims that the duration of the study is not defined exactly, more attention is paid to number of credits and this issue is regulated by the law of Georgia on Higher Education and by the decree of the Minister of Education and Science. “Great attention is paid to the number of credits; the number of credits should be calculated on the basis of the European credit transfer and accumulation system. One credit implies 25-30 hours of student’s work; from this, how much is direct contact and how much is independent work, the private universities can decide themselves.”
Cowgill, however, insists that there are some regulatory requirements they must consider in setting up an academic schedule.
“We previously had a schedule based on a 15-week semester. Now we have gone to a 19-week semester. A student is required to spend 25 to 30 hours (both in class and individual preparation) per credit - between 150-180 hours in total for a 6-credit course in one semester.
When you look at a normal class load of 5 courses per semester, there is another regulation that comes into play - a student is not supposed to spend more than 41 hours (in class and studying) in a week for all classes – this is based on what the labor code requires for a normal work. When you do the math, a 15-week semester requires a student to spend 60-70 hours a week. So to comply with the application of the labor code to studying, we have extended the semester to 19 weeks.”
Differences in MissionRegarding the difference between public and private universities following the change, Tinatin Gugberidze, Director of the PR at CU, says that there will probably be some differences that can’t be regulated.
“There is still a difference between private and public universities,” says Michael Cowgill, GAU.
“Private universities, such as ours, base our programs on a more current market demand, while public universities have an added responsibility to society for their programs. Public universities have some different goals. They have to make sure that the country has enough teachers, engineers and other professionals for the longer benefit of society. For us, our clients are the organizations that hire the students, and that’s how we base our curricula,” says Michael Cowgill, President of Georgian American University (GAU).
“Within the Georgian Association of Private Universities, our goal is to provide a dynamic environment for higher education, that will support the development and growth of HEIs. By implementing effective and innovative activities we would like to improve the level of students within employing organizations,” says Skhirtladze.
“The association should concentrate on what it can do to improve quality as reflected in all aspects of the university - management and administration, academic aspects, and financial profitability. As private universities, we should have more flexibility. Everyone knows that our tuition fees are higher. So why are students willing to pay higher tuition fees? Because they expect a higher quality of education,” says Cowgill.
“We think that students are satisfied with the introduction of the new law, as they have more time, not for academic task fulfillment though. However students are dissatisfied with the reduction of holiday time,” says Skhirtladze. “With the new system, there are two mid terms and a separate final, and the chance to re-take their final exams.”
“If student uses the time productively, spends a little bit time on holidays, you have more time to really try to comprehend the total course. We tried to optimize the time that is better for quality by choosing 19 week semester.” says Cowgill.
