The academic and scientific community of Georgian Technical University (GTU) is appealing to Bidzina Ivanishvili, Honorary Chairman of Georgian Dream, to mediate with the commission drafting the education reform so that the academic community is provided with “complete and comprehensive information about the content, objectives, implementation mechanisms, and timelines of the planned reform.”

As stated in GTU’s letter, the demand of the academic community is that prior to parliamentary hearings on the issue of merging with Tbilisi State University (TSU), representatives of the Parliament’s Education Committee and the government come to the Technical University to hold a public discussion with the university community.

“Georgian Technical University respectfully acknowledges the need for reforms in the higher education system and welcomes the principles declared in the National Concept for the Higher Education System. However, the possible merger of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University and Georgian Technical University does not stem from the essence, objectives, or logic of this concept and therefore cannot produce the results envisaged by the reform.

To date, the academic community has had access only to general formulations, according to which the planned merger—essentially meaning the abolition of Georgian Technical University’s independent institutional status—is presented as a means of optimizing the higher education system and improving education quality. Such statements, without detailed substantive, structural, and scientific analysis, do not provide a basis for constructive and professional discussion.

Unfortunately, the academic community has not yet been introduced to the conceptual documents of the reform, its implementation model, timelines, financial guarantees (mechanisms), the scientific component, or the professional composition of the reform’s authors. This is particularly concerning given that GTU’s academic and scientific community consists of scholars and researchers recognized both in Georgia and internationally, yet they have had no opportunity to participate in the discussion or formulation of this reform.

Georgian Technical University cannot be considered a structural unit or ‘school’ of any other institution. Each of our engineering and technological faculties represents an independent scientific-academic school that has shaped and developed engineering thought and practice in Georgia. The development of our country has been, is, and—firmly believe—will continue to be based on the knowledge and professional responsibility of Georgian engineers. These are not merely emotional words; this is a tradition, a legacy of the past, and the foundation of future development.

Immediately after gaining independence, the university became a universal educational and research institution. It played a decisive role in the development of the country’s industrial, energy, transport, and infrastructure sectors. Given its century-long history, the Technical University may also be considered a monument of Georgia’s cultural heritage—the only temple of engineering and technological knowledge in the country. Ilia Chavchavadze once said: ‘If a country has 12 educated engineers, it will develop faster and more solidly than with people who think only in words.’ Georgian Technical University has not merely produced 12 engineers—over its 104-year history, it has educated more than half a million professional engineers who built and sustained this country. Neither our history, our present, nor our future deserves such treatment. We cannot be the generation that allowed the destruction of a temple of knowledge and the country’s return 100 years backward, to a rootless and futureless Georgia.

In light of the above, we respectfully ask you, using your authority and sense of state responsibility, to mediate with the reform-drafting commission so that, at this stage, the academic community is provided with complete and comprehensive information on the content, objectives, implementation mechanisms, and timelines of the planned reform. We believe that only an open, transparent process based on professional dialogue can ensure genuine development of the higher education system and the protection of national interests.

The demand of the academic community of Georgian Technical University is that, before parliamentary hearings on the merger of GTU with Tbilisi State University, representatives of the Parliament’s Education Committee and the government come to the Technical University to hold a public discussion with our university community. Alternatively, representatives of GTU’s academic and scientific community should be allowed to attend the parliamentary hearing of the Committee on Education, Science, and Youth Affairs.

Respectfully,Your supporters,The Academic and Scientific Community of Georgian Technical University,” the statement reads.