Schools without First-Graders

Gela Mtivlishvili

In the villages of Shatili, Gurdukhi, Kvavili and Akhaltsikhe of Kazbegi region there will be no more first grades this year. According to the head of Dusheti educational resource-center Tina Bantsuri, no children are of school age in these villages.

According to Mtskheta-Mtianeti information center, 1015 children will start school this year, 596 out of which belong to Mtskheta municipality, 297 – Dusheti municipality, 89 – Tianeti municipality and 33 – Kazbegi municipality.

There will be only one student in the first grade of the village Chekuraantgori of Tianeti region.

“Daniel Chonkadze 9-year public school of village Kvavili of Dusheti municipality will meet new academic year with 12 students and 11 teachers. The school where children come from three villages – Kvavili, Mezvriantkari and Taniatnkari will not have first grade this year. There are no students in the fifth, sixth and eighth grades either. The most number of students which is 4 is in the ninth grade,” – reports Mtskheta-Mtianeti Information Center.

The children from Mezvriantkari and Taniantkari cover several kilometers in a day to reach school from home and vice versa.

Kvavili public school has been built in 70ies of the 20th century. The building needs rehabilitation. There are two computers in the school and none are plugged in the internet. Only French and Russian are taught as foreign languages. There is no English teacher in the school.

“We have teachers of all subjects in the school, except for English. Since the English hours are few and the distance to the village is long, nobody agrees to work,” – noted the director of Daniel Chonkadze Kvavili public school Irakli Chonkadze.

According to Kvavili residents, the main reason of small number of students is unemployment – the population left the village due to unemployment.

“The only way of survival is school. Only this way the village will not lose people,” – states art teacher Naira Sujashvili.