Graduates without knowledge of English will not get diploma - Saakashvili
TBILISI. June 14 (Interfax) - Georgia is planning to stop issuing higher-education diplomas to persons with no knowledge of English, President Mikheil Saakashvili said in Batumi on Thursday.
"No matter who says what, but in the very near future we shall introduce a rule: university graduates will not be able to obtain diplomas without knowledge of English," he told an international medical conference held in Batumi.
"It is very good to know Russian, but in today's world, the whole information flow is in English, so this rule must be mandatory," Saakashvili said.
Almost two years ago, Saakashvili proposed mandatory teaching of English starting from the first year of school. Over 3,000 volunteers from the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom arrived in Georgia to teach English at schools across Georgia.
At Saakashvili's proposal, Georgian television channels have been showing English-language films with Georgian subtitles. According to independent experts, this fact irritates middle-aged and elderly people but is welcomed by young people.
There are also free English and computer-literacy courses in Georgia.