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Eric Livny
Apr
11

The Samtredia Redemption

Governance and Social Policy
Nino Kakulia was born in Samtredia on 15 October 1991, in the last days of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. By the time Nino and independent Georgia were celebrating their 13th birthdays, the Georgian government embarked on a series of long overdue reforms, one of which was about cleansing the country’s higher education system from corruption.  This was undoubtedly an excellent and timely reform for Nino, an ambitious student in Samtredia’s school. Until then, to get admitted into a public university, Nino or, rather, her family, would have h...
Tags:
education corruption regional policy reforms georgia
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Florian Biermann
The article is very idealistic, not to say romantic, about young people’s desire to acquire EDUCATION. I do not doubt that there a... Read More
Monday, 11 April 2016 7:07 AM
Eric Livny
Nino is certainly a romantic idealist, but I dont think there is anything idealist or romantic about the article. I dont claim tha... Read More
Monday, 11 April 2016 10:10 AM
Florian Biermann
I got your point. Critical thinking should indeed be encouraged in Georgian schools, that is also my impression, even if the stude... Read More
Monday, 11 April 2016 10:10 AM
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Florian Biermann
Apr
10

The Impact of Religion on Georgia’s Economy

Governance and Social Policy
According to a study from 2015 by WIN/Gallup, 93% of Georgians consider themselves to be religious. There is only one country in the world which has a higher rate, namely Thailand, where this number stands at 94%, while the same percentage of religious people as in Georgia could only be found in Armenia, Bangladesh, and Morocco. All other nations of the world are less enchanted about religion. Worldwide, on average only 63% of people say they are believers, and in some countries, like China and Japan, the number goes down to 7% and 13%, respectively. Giv...
Tags:
religion georgia corruption
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Simon Appleby
An interesting article.Religiosity in East Asia is a difficult thing to quantify, as there is not the same concept of being an exc... Read More
Sunday, 10 April 2016 2:02 PM
Simon Appleby
Another issue of economic importance in the 20th century is how different religions view women and their economic role. Christian ... Read More
Sunday, 10 April 2016 2:02 PM
Florian Biermann
Thank you, Simon, for your well-informed explanations regarding religiosity in Asia.
Sunday, 10 April 2016 7:07 PM
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Florian Biermann
Feb
27

Don’t Talk about Georgia’s Future!

Governance and Social Policy
According to Micklewright (Macroeconomics and Data on Children, UNICEF 2000), a share of 7% of the Georgian gross domestic product of the year 1991 accounted for education. In 1994, this number had fallen to 1%. As Micklewright comments, such a dramatic decrease of educational expenditures was never seen before nor afterwards in the history of any country. Recovery after the crisis was a long process. Until 1998, spending on education had only increased to 2.1% (World Bank Development Indicators), and in 2002, wages in the educational sector were still r...
Tags:
education georgia corruption shadow economy social policy
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Ruediger Heining
Why claiming to double the salary of teachers? To avoid corruption in education or the rank growth of parallel teaching system, wh... Read More
Monday, 07 March 2016 9:09 AM
Florian Biermann
I agree with most of your remarks, though I am wondering why you question the importance of salaries. As you write: (quote) The mo... Read More
Sunday, 01 May 2016 11:11 AM
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Charles Johnson
Nov
23

Georgia’s Ravaging Nepotism

Governance and Social Policy
Georgian media is full of stories about nepotism and the funny justifications of those involved: When Irakli Garibashvili, still being Minister of the Interior, was confronted with nepotism allegations, he replied: “Don’t you know that a relative of your wife is not your relative?” When the 23-year-old brother of Vice Prime Minister Kakhi Kaladze’s wife was appointed head of the City Hall’s department for education, sports, and youth affairs, Tbilisi Mayor Davit Narmania stated that he had “known him for a long time and did not consider any oth...
Tags:
nepotism social policy corruption jobs governance
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