The Minister attended the students' New Year celebration in Marneuli district

Minister of Education and Science Dimitri Shashkin and Kvemo Kartli Governor David Kirkitadze visited Marneuli District Public School No. 2 with Azerbaijani instruction in the village of Algeti and attended the event entitled "New Year Traditions in Various Regions of Georgia". The event was held within the framework of the program initiated by the President of Georgia, "Qualified Teachers in Schools of Regions Populated by Ethnic Minorities", and involved non-Georgian-speaking students from Algeti Public Schools No. 1 and No. 2. Together with their Georgian language and literature teacher, Ana Babluani, they presented New Year traditions characteristic of almost all regions of Georgia, and performed Georgian national dances and songs.

The program initiated by the President was launched in 2009 and is implemented by the Teacher Professional Development Center of the Ministry of Education and Science. The goal of the program is to promote the teaching of the state language in regions compactly populated by ethnic minorities. Based on a competition, 50 Georgian language and literature teachers were selected and sent to public schools in Akhalkalaki, Ninotsminda, Tsalka, Bolnisi, Gardabani, Marneuli, and the Kakheti region. The salary of the teachers amounts to 1,000 GEL.

The New Year celebration at Algeti Public School No. 2 was also attended by: Sopio Gorgodze, Director of the Teacher Professional Development Center of the Ministry of Education and Science, and representatives of local self-government.