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Lia Charekishvili
ANALYSIS OF MAIN STATISTICAL DATA ON CONDITION OF EDUCATION IN GEORGIA

Over the decades the discussion on education system is criticism of ongoing reforms, however, nobody notes that this is the area that can not be easily transformed, and several generations have to go through complex, "experimental" processes until will be finalised. In addition, the processes are irreversible and are constantly in the process of renewal. The process is painful, especially when the outcome is not instantaneous.

In order to characterize the ongoing processes in the field of education, Geostat has been continuously improving the statistical survey questionnaires by the recommendation of UNESCO Institute of Statistics and other international organizations.

The IT system implemented and developed by the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia has been a step forward in the pupils/student's register in secondary and higher education system. In general, transition step by step to registers, of course, is desirable and necessary. However, this work is quite expensive.

The most important thing for our country is to insure that in Georgia, young people get education that will be recognized internationally. Through exchange programs, Pupils/students are going to the foreign countries, which is a great experience for our new generation, get acquainted with their learning system, manuals, peculiarities of practical training, etc.

Finally, most important is how graduates are employed within their profession. There is no official statistical survey in Georgia, but I think it is necessary. Nevertheless, getting the education is an important tool for upcoming healthy future generations. This is the policy of the state bodies.

The number of persons with no primary education is very low in Georgia. For all persons 25 – 64 years of age, about 5 thousand indicated they had no primary education but could read and write and about 6 thousand reported to be illiterate. The largest educational group of people 25 - 29 years of age and over is formed by those with a higher education (109 thousand). Currently, 755 thousand people in age group 25 -74 years of age have a higher education, while 482 thousand have a professional education.

The 2014 General Population Census showed that younger cohorts have higher levels of educational attainment than older cohorts. Figure 3.8 shows the percentage of people with higher education by sex and broad age-groups. Obviously, at younger ages the percentage of persons with higher education is low or non-existent, simply because people did not have the opportunity to finish their education. If we look at the percentage of people 25 – 29 years old who have finished higher education (39.8 percent), it is about the same as for those in age-group 30 – 39 years but considerably higher than for those between the age of 40 and 49 (33.7 percent). At older ages percentages are even lower. Higher educational attainment is considerably higher for females than for males. In the age-group 25 – 29 years, 44.1 percent of all women have a higher educational diploma versus 35.5 percent of males, a difference of 8.6 percent. It is noteworthy that the difference between males and females becomes smaller in the older cohorts. In the age-group 30 – 39, the difference is 6.2 percent. Between age 50 and 59, the difference is almost non-existent and above age 60 the percentage of males with a higher education is bigger than the percentage of females.

The trend of higher female educational attainment is not restricted to advanced education alone. Also at the professional educational level females score is higher than their male counterparts. Age-groups 20 – 24 and 25 – 29 years both have higher percentages for females than for males. In terms of overall levels, older cohorts had higher professional levels. This is caused by a clear shift among young people from studies at the professional level to higher education.

For urban populations, it is clear that younger generations are more educated than older generations. For example, about half of the age-group 25-29 or 86 thousand individuals had a higher education, compared to 40 percent of 60 - 64 year olds (45 thousand). As for the rural population, the youngest generations are also the ones with the highest education, though this only accounts for about 20 percent. The most common type of education attained in rural areas is secondary education, while in urban areas it is higher education

Based on current statistics data and general population census 2014, it may be noted that quantitative indicators of education are satisfactory. From this point of view, Georgia has always been and is on advanced positions.  However, only quantitative indicators are not characteristic to assess the current situation in the country and not less important is the analysis of qualitative indicators.

Detailed analysis of the population census data will bring many interesting challenges to the population of Georgia, representatives of the relevant government Bodies. My research object is to study how is used achieved education in everyday life, and this mission is my main challenge, taking into consideration. This also strengthens that sustainable development Goal 4: "Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all" should be reached for 2030.