We have announced a very important and fundamental reform of higher education, and I would like to once again remind you of the core directions of this reform. Among other things, this includes the deconcentration of the system - we want to establish Kutaisi as the second major hub of higher education. The Prime Minister of Georgia said this during his annual address to the Parliament.

As he noted, critical directions of the reform include the strengthening and optimization of regional universities.

“We want to strengthen regional universities. Optimization is also one of the main directions of this reform, including the “one city - one faculty| principle, which will qualitatively improve the situation regarding optimization.

Program optimization is underway, and we are essentially transitioning to a 3+1 system. State universities will strictly admit only Georgian students. A 5% cap will be set for foreign students, ensuring better quality for Georgian students in state universities.

Regarding personnel policy, we have introduced the position of Leading Professor with a correspondingly increased salary, which is another fundamental direction of this reform. We will also strengthen the research component. For the first time in our country, a comprehensive labor market analysis was conducted, revealing significant mismatches between labor market demands and graduates, between enrollment and graduation. Ultimately, for the first time in all these years, we have ensured that admission and enrollment in higher education institutions are brought into alignment with the demands of the labor market”, - said Irakli Kobakhidze.