Issue 1, 2013 February-March - Investor.ge

The Georgian private K-12 educationmarket is ripe with competition.Parents, it seems, arespoiled with the diversity of choicebetween Georgian, American, British,Italian, French, German, Turkish andinternational-style education. There aremore than 110 registered private secondaryschools in Tbilisi alone, and anadditional 128 in the country, accordingto the National Center for EducationalQuality Enhancement.What has prompted such an increasein the number of private schools, and isthe rising competition due to the lucrativeprofits that this sector promises?Study abroad programs could be onefactor pushing parents to pay for theirchildren’s education: nearly 500 Georgianstudents chose to enroll at highereducation institutions in the U.S. in 2012,up by five percent from last year and a36 percent increase from six years ago,according to the Institute of InternationalEducation Open Doors 2012 report.Admission to overseas colleges anduniversities is no easy feat, especiallyif the applicant aims to secure financialsupport. Some of the private schools inTbilisi boast a track record of graduateswho win scholarships to study abroad – avaluable commodity that allows schoolsto charge high tuitions and, consequently,become especially alluring businessopportunities for both local and foreignentrepreneurs.Mariam Kutateladze, director ofthe XXI Century School, said greaterdemand has spurred this extraordinarygrowth in the supply of private schools.“We believe that the growing communityof well-educated and successfulparents in Tbilisi is looking for a schoolthat builds onto [Georgia’s] traditions[of higher education] and provides aneducation that is ideal for students whowish to continue their studies in Georgiaor would like to apply to universitiesabroad. It is important to be versatile andresponsive to market needs.”Director of QSI International Schoolin Tbilisi Tom Tunny stressed that thereis bigger demand for higher education ingeneral. “The number of private schoolshas grown tremendously in the past few