The Ilia Chavchavadze State University will be delivered the buildings and constructions as well as the plots of land which formerly belonged to the Caucasian Military Headquarters. Under the decision taken, the university already received the "Karishkhala" sports complex and the Army Sports Club. This will lay foundation to establishing the Education City, which is one of the priorities of the Georgian government.
In order to adjust the delivered property to modern educational requirements, additional 10 million GEL have been allocated from the budget. The total space of the constructions amounts to 44.000 square meters.
In connection with this fact, a joint press conference was held with the participation of the Prime Minister of Georgia Zurab Noghaideli and the Minister of Education and Science Alexander Lomaia; the event took place on the former territory of the Russian Military Headquarters.
Alexander Lomaia emphasized that today, a project is going to be presented, about which the population had been informed a few weeks before.
Zurab Noghaideli spoke about the reforms and projects planned in the education sector which will stay a priority for the country for a few years. According to the prime minister's words, it's just today, that the construction of the Education City will start which in its turn, will lay foundation to building a modern and competitive university education system.
- "The most important point, by which we started, was the reform of the secondary education system. There are 2300 public schools in Georgia. By the end of 2010, renovation and construction of all school buildings will be finished. 400 schools are in the process of renovation this year and 500 schools will also undergo renovation and rehabilitation. By the year 2009 we will finish the automation (Equipping with computers) process of schools and after this, other regular tasks will occupy the agenda of the day which are high and vocational education. The education city will be located on 200 hectares of land. The part of the land (150 hectares) is fit for construction and therefore, the majority of the university blocks and scientific and research institutes now situated in Tbilisi will be built there. During 5-6 years each of the blocks will be constructed and equipped anew.
During two years, investments amounting to about 200 million GEL will be spent on rehabilitation of the infrastructure; this will be an entirely new university. It's also important to note that investments will also be allocated for the needs of the sports infrastructure - the Army Sports Club (ASC) and the Kharishkhala clubs will be the first beneficiaries. All universities must have modern infrastructure; this is the first part of the plan, which will enter the realization phase next year. Next year, along with the beginning of the study year, the process of moving students to the new facility will be started, which will be implemented gradually, step by step. Eventually, Almost 400 million GEL investments will be mobilized with regard to establishing the Education City. This is a rather ambitious plan; our future generations will be eligible to receive a competitive education and accordingly, their participation will make our economics competitive as well", - Zurab Noghaideli stated.
The press center of the Chancellery of the Government of Georgia