October 16, 2010 - 15:46 AMT
Georgian Ministry of Education faces problems with quality of textbooks

Georgian Minister of Education and Science Dmitry Shashkin said that the Ministry faces problems with textbooks.

Replying to a question on low quality of Armenian language textbooks in Georgia, Minister Shashkin said in Yerevan that the country decided 5 years ago to provide publishing houses with freedom, thus, the country's government does not control textbooks quality.

"Unfortunately, the quality of many books is too low, due to which the Georgian government decided to interfere in this process from November 1. We agreed with my Armenian counterpart that from now on ready textbooks will be sent to Armenia for examination, after which they will be published," the Georgian Minister said.

As for the lack of Armenian History subject in educational program of the Armenian schools in Georgia, the Minister said that Armenia's history is studied as part of the world history.

Armenian Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotyan said for his part that majority of Javakheti Armenians prefer their children to study in Russian language schools. "There are three Armenian schools and one Russian school in Akhaltsikhe, with 900 students studying in the 3 Armenian schools and 800 students - in the Russian school," Ashotyan said, adding that this phenomenon is related to Javakheti Armenians' aspiration to emigrate to Russia in future.