WiP: Higher Education Reform and Academic Community Responses in Georgia

Name: WiP: Higher Education Reform and Academic Community Responses in Georgia
Start: 2026-04-15T18:30:00+04:00
End: 2026-04-15T19:45:00+04:00
Location: CRRC Georgia

Schedule

Wed Apr 15 2026 at 06:30 pm to 07:45 pm

UTC+04:00

Location

CRRC Georgia | Tbilisi, TB

The 5th session of the Spring 2026 Tbilisi Works-in-Progress series!

This week’s session will be held in hybrid in-person at CRRC Georgia and virtually via this Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/MkeKuEdBRUizkWWBPs5GGQ

"Higher Education Reform and Academic Community Responses in Georgia"

Keti Tsotniashvili and Lela Chakhaia, Ilia State University

This paper examines how the implementation of the higher education reform announced in Georgia in October 2025 compares with its framing and how the concrete policy steps involved relate to the declared objectives. It will assess the likely outcomes of the policy for higher education in the country and for sustainable educational and research activities. It will also examine the available lines of response on the part of academic communities.

Keti Tsotniashvili, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Education Policy at Ilia State University. She earned her PhD in Educational Policy and Evaluation from Arizona State University in 2023. Her ethnographic dissertation examined the transformation of academic identities in Georgia amid the geopolitical shift from Soviet to Western time and space. Her research interests include the transformation of education policies, institutions, academic actors, and knowledge production in response to historical and geopolitical shifts. Keti brings over a decade of professional experience in higher education policy, system reform, and implementation.

Lela Chakhaia, PhD, is an Invited Lecturer in Research Methods in Education at Ilia State University. She holds a PhD in Social Science from the European University Institute and brings over 15 years of experience in designing and implementing large-scale research, policy analysis, and evaluation across diverse educational contexts. Her scholarly interests span educational inequality and attainment, institutional funding, education policy-making, and early childhood development and education.

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Works-in-Progress is an ongoing academic discussion series based in Tbilisi, Georgia, that takes place at the CRRC office at Chavchavadze Ave. 5 and online. All of the talks are free and open to the public.

In observation of the spirit of the Chatham House Rule, the talks will not be recorded, and we courteously request that the other participants refrain from recording and/or distributing recordings as well or citing anything expressed therein in the press without explicit permission. The opinions expressed in WiP talks are those of the speakers alone.