School financing has increased

Minister of Education and Science of Georgia Tamar Sanikidze met with the teachers and administrative-technical personnel of the public school in the village of Ananuri, Dusheti Municipality. The Minister presented them with the new funding model and discussed the changes implemented in the school funding mechanism – specifically regarding the amount of the standard voucher calculated per student.

Funding is one of the key factors in the development of general education. Since the voucher is the primary funding mechanism for Georgian schools, the Ministry has defined its priorities in order to improve school efficiency and implemented fundamental changes aimed at increasing voucher-based funding:

• Salaries of teachers and school administrative-technical personnel have increased.
• Taking geographical location into account, voucher funding has significantly increased for public schools located in villages, small towns, and high-mountainous regions. The old funding model did not allow for the development of these schools. However, based on the changes implemented in voucher funding, schools can now determine priorities according to their specific needs and plan their own budgets. School management can allocate funds to finance the projects and programs that are important for their specific school.
• The new school funding system takes into account the specifics of inclusive education, and schools receive additional funding for students with special educational needs. The funds are intended to provide inclusive services (special educator, psychologist, inclusive education coordinator, appropriate infrastructure, equipment).

There are 63 students studying at the Ananuri Public School, three of whom have special educational needs; consequently, the school receives additional funding in the amount of 4,200 GEL per year. The Tskhisdziri Public School has been optimized with the Ananuri Public School and receives the corresponding supplement.

Under the new school funding system, the funding for the Ananuri Public School as a mountain school has increased by 8,000 GEL per year starting from the 2013-2014 academic year. After covering the increased monthly salaries and all essential expenses, the school retains more than 1,100 GEL. In total, the voucher funding for this school has increased by 1,600 GEL per month.