Mikheil Chkhenkeli discusses joint projects with representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
The Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, Mikheil Chkhenkeli held an online meeting with the Head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Georgia, Kemlin Furle, where they summarized the results of the cooperation and discussed the challenges of teaching Georgian to Georgian refugees.
Mikheil Chkhenkeli noted that the Ministry is implementing several support projects for refugees and people with humanitarian status, including to promote access to general education. The program offers beneficiaries a one-year Georgian language course, which helps them integrate into society. Since 2015, 221 beneficiaries have benefited from the program.
In the field of Georgian language teaching, the parties summarized the activities of the Zurab Zhvania School of Public Administration, which implements several projects in cooperation with the UNHCR. In particular, "Learn Georgian Audio Lessons" and "State Language Teaching and Integration Program", which help beneficiaries learn and adapt to the Georgian language.
Mikheil Chkhenkeli emphasized that the Ministry is actively working on the legislative framework, which will allow refugees and people with humanitarian status to enroll in a one-year preparatory Georgian language program and continue their studies at the bachelor's level.
The Minister thanked the UN High Commissioner for Refugees for improving the learning environment where Georgian language lessons are provided to the beneficiaries.
The meeting was also attended by Johann Franz, Senior Legal Adviser to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and Salome Kusikashvili, Legal Adviser.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is one of the largest humanitarian agencies in the world, founded in 1950 and currently covering 134 countries. The aim of the organization is to help refugees and stateless persons, as well as to protect the right of IDP children to education and to provide them with access to quality education. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) regional office has been operating in Georgia since 1993 and has been actively assisting the state in developing a policy to support IDPs.
