Azerbaijanis in Georgia concerned over closure of Azerbaijani schools

The teachers and parents said at the meeting that they are concerned over a recent decision to close the school.

Headmaster Sayyad Hasanov said that they support the ongoing transformation in Georgia. "But today, our school faces the threat of closure, and we see this as a violation of the law. We demand explanations why the school will be closed. We are told that school has very small number of pupils even though today we have 112 pupils,” Hasanov said.

The headmaster also added that they had contacted the Cultural Center of Azerbaijanis in Marneuli, the Azerbaijani embassy in Georgia and the Ministry of Education and Science, but no response was followed.

"We called the ministry, and we were told that the school will not be closed. If we are told a lie in an official institution, then whom should we believe?"

Children from the neighboring Yenikend village also study at the school in Ahlimahmudlu village. The Arafly village where pupils are planned to be transferred after the school closes is located 5-6 kilometres away. However, schoolchildren have been provided with no transportation. In the case of closure of the school, only four of 20 teachers will be employed in Arafly, the rest will be left jobless.

CAG Chairman Ali Babayev noted that there are no objective reasons for closure of the school in Ahlimahmudlu. "In Georgia, there are some villages where schools operate with 15-20 schoolchildren. On what grounds do they close the school, where nearly 120 children get education?”

“We are going to meet with Minister of Education and Science Dmitri Shashkin, representatives of the Ombudsman Office and other bodies to clarify this matter,” Babayev stated.
 
Reportedly, several Azerbaijani schools will closed this year leaving about 350 teachers without job, he added.


/Vesti.az/