Author: Elene Zakashvili
Quality of education, career and professional growth, new opportunities, experience, grant programs – this is an incomplete list of reasons why Georgian students choose abroad, more specifically, the West for education.
The number of people who start or continue their studies abroad is increasing. According to the information of the National Statistics Agency, at the beginning of the 2022-2023 academic year, 49% more students went abroad than at the beginning of the 2021-2022 academic year.
Western education is made more or less possible by various grant programs, among them, notably, Erasmus+ funded by the European Union, Germany’s DAAD, Great Britain’s Chevening and others.
Despite their varied experiences, our respondents agree that getting an education in the West means more opportunities and independence.
Nino
Nino Tchkoidze studied social and political sciences at Tbilisi State University. She went to Tartu University in Estonia for the first time with the exchange program in 2020, in the first semester of the 4th year.
She had the desire before, but first the lack of information prevented her, and then she could not pass the interview stage. As she says, after the rejection, she was demotivated, she even thought of giving up, but she tried for the third time.
“In our course, one, at most, two exchange programs are announced during the semester, and if at least twenty out of three hundred students want it, it’s already a problem. This demotivates many students, because if you really don’t kill the dragon, it’s very difficult to go abroad for an exchange semester. When I was rejected for the first time, I was very demotivated and thought that when there are so many applicants, I have very few chances and I should give up, but I still managed.”
The goal was simple – she wanted to see a different education system from Georgia. According to her, in addition to quality education, there are many other factors that every student must know – in order to understand what Georgian universities lack in order to make the learning environment better.
Less concentration on theoretical material and more practical tasks, sharing of personal professional experience of lecturers, connections, informal environment and recreational space — these are the important factors that Nino distinguishes.
“The first semester was really unforgettable. The University of Tartu is one of the leading universities in Europe. The teaching system and the attitude of the lecturers towards the students surprised me. I had a culture shock, but in a good way.
Regarding the quality of teaching, I cannot say that TSU was much inferior to European universities. We have the good fortune that not all, but many lecturers are responsible for their subject, they know what they are teaching, although in my opinion, there are other criteria that define a good lecturer”, says Nino Tchkoidze.
The lecturers introduce themselves from the beginning as the person who will be the first to help you if you encounter any problems during the learning process.
While studying in Tartu, he saw a big difference between the Georgian and foreign educational environment. That’s why she wanted to get into a similar environment again, which is why she went two more times on an exchange program at the master’s level. Poland — University of Warsaw and Germany — European University of Viadrina.
According to her assessment, what distinguishes European universities from Georgian ones is the opportunity to be with students in an informal environment and recreational spaces, which almost no university in Georgia has.
Photo from Nino’s personal archive
Universities pay a lot of attention to volunteer activities. For example, in Poland, she repeatedly took part in events related to disabled people, environmental issues and others. In addition, students from different countries spent time introducing their own culture to others.
As for the difficulties, the main challenge was the financial issue. While studying in Estonia and Poland, her program was officially called the “Bilateral Agreement Program”, although she studied with other Erasmus students from different European countries.
“The scholarship was different. Erasmus students in Estonia, for example, had a scholarship of 800 euros, and we had 200 euros. They also paid rent, but about 500 euros remained, while we lived on 200 euros a month, because such an agreement was made between the universities.
I went on my own, I didn’t want to ask for money for myself. Therefore, I tried to keep it at 200 euros. Too many times when my students went to another city to visit, I couldn’t go because my priority was to save money.
Therefore, whether you want it or not, when saving money is your priority, you have to give up some things and you can’t get some experiences just because you don’t have as many financial opportunities as the representatives of the EU countries have within the same program.
The steps that a Georgian student has to go through in order to go on an exchange program are also different.
“It is the easiest in European universities. There are so many numerical opportunities in every faculty, so many offers you have, in fact, there is no competition at all. But in Georgian universities, 50 students often come to one exchange program, therefore the competition is very high”.
Nino starts studying in Germany in a one-year study program from October. She plans to prepare for a doctoral degree and continue her research activities.
At this stage, she does not plan to return to the country, but she wants to have the opportunity to come to Georgia in 4-5 years.
“Due to some circumstances, we have to refuse and go where we have more opportunities. The main hindering factor for me is the salary, because so far in Georgia, where I have worked, I have not received a salary commensurate with the work I have done, and I have always had the feeling that I earned too much, but I did not receive a commensurate amount of work.”
I don’t feel safe in my country, valued according to my work. I don’t feel that when I have a fair objection to something, anyone will have an appropriate response to it.
Ana
Ana Manvelishvili is 25 years old. For the first time in 2018, she went on a 2-week exchange program to Germany. At that time, she studied at the Grigol Robakidze University at the School of Public Administration Policy.
“We were funded by a DAAD scholarship and 10 best students from the school were selected. It was my first European experience, I came back from Germany with more motivation, I wanted to do more”, says Ana.
DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) German academic exchange service, which is one of the world's largest scientific foundations in terms of the number of scholarships. It was founded in 1925.
After the first experience, Ana actively began to look for opportunities through which she would receive an education in Europe. She also studied political sciences in France through an exchange program.
“When I returned to Georgia, I wanted to do even more – I entered GIPA University for a master’s degree in public administration. GIPA has many interesting exchange programs. I had not decided that I wanted to go to another country, but I filled out the exchange program anyway and received funding for a master’s course at the University of Hamburg. I stayed there for a year, finished my master’s degree there, and finished my thesis there as well.”
According to her, European education gave her great academic knowledge and critical thinking ability, and also increased her professional contacts with students, professors and experts from different countries – “from here you can get very important knowledge and information”.
After 1 year of study in Germany, she stayed there. As she herself says, she didn’t plan it, but while still studying, she was offered to start working in the German press agency as a student-researcher-assistant. She did not refuse the offer. She believes that everyone should be able to get an education in the West.
“Equality of opportunities must exist unconditionally in this part, and I can tell you that even today, based on the reality of today’s Georgia, there are these ways. We may have to go through more difficult and problematic ways, but I believe that what a person really wants to do, as a result of a lot of work, they can achieve their desires”.
European education will give a person the opportunity to better understand different values and worldviews. Also, respect for different traditions, more empathy, will develop the ability of tolerance and mutual respect, which, I think, will make us a healthier society where people respect each other.
Democracy, human rights, rule of law, solidarity, equality — these values are mentioned by Ana while sharing her experience of living in Germany for 4 years.
“In my opinion, equality and inclusiveness, which means creating an accessible and equal environment for everyone, is particularly important and emphasized. This is not only in the field of education, but also in the field of health. Meeting such basic needs for people, which is especially important”.
Equality of opportunities is exactly what she would like for Georgia. She is considering returning to the country unconditionally, although at this stage she has more opportunities in Germany – she wants to create an environment in Georgia that they like in Europe.
Tsira
Tsira Gurgenidze studied at Tbilisi State University as a bachelor. She always had the goal of continuing her master’s degree abroad. In 2020, she enrolled at the Vilnius University in the master’s program of international communication, in the direction of social science.
She continued his studies in Lithuania with funding. She says he couldn’t have done it at her own expense, and it’s heartbreaking to imagine how much she would have lost.
“At first it was difficult because I had never lived outside of Georgia before and I didn’t know what to expect. I was very impressed how everything was orderly and pleasant,” says Tsira.
The most important thing for me was that it gave me a lot of new opportunities. Once one door is opened, 20 new doors are waiting for you. It depends on how eager you are. Whatever resources you put in, you will get accordingly. I did not have the same experience in Georgia.
Vilnius University gave her the opportunity to participate in a number of projects, including scientific research activities. She completed an internship in a foreign company. She also participated in Erasmus exchange programs.
“Going to university opened many doors for me. The two years I was in Vilnius were full of opportunities, for which I am personally very happy,” says Tsira.
She also talked about highly qualified education and lecturers’ attitude. According to her, she had equal environment and opportunities both during her studies and now.
Photo from Tsira’s personal archive
When she passed her master’s degree, she planned to return to Georgia after completing her studies. However, she liked everything so much that she thought about what to do next for personal, professional or career development. She started working at the Aviation Academy, which operates in other countries besides Lithuania.
“I couldn’t have imagined where I am now.”
She wants to continue her studies for a doctorate, but at this stage she is preparing. She should study another language and then enter the university.
She never had the feeling that she had less opportunities than anyone else, although the fact that Georgia is not a member of the European Union creates some obstacles – there were projects that were only intended for EU citizens.
“While at work, since I work at the aviation academy, we often have to go to Britain, because there is a large aviation base there. Since I need a visa, I cannot go when I want. In terms of your career, this is somehow holding you back, you don’t have the opportunity to take part in the biggest professional exhibition in Europe”.
She wants to return to the country in the future and says: “I will never be completely gone”.
“My resources, my knowledge, my experience must help my country at some stage.
I may be abroad, but I want to use my knowledge for my country. So how is the state of the country, it is of great importance”.
The experience of our respondents and thousands of Georgian students proves that getting an education in Europe offers them diversity and a wide range of opportunities. However, professional and career growth is something that is important to all students. Connections made in Europe and professional contacts with international experts can be considered an advantage.