Issue 46: Education and Science Sector – 2014

In 2014, the share of education expenditure as % to GDP is 2.9% and its share in total public expenditure is 9.2%.

The planning of the education reforms started in 2005 and their active implementation phase started in 2007. In 2014, the indicator of education expenditure increased by 8.4% compared to 2013 and by 92.6% compared to 2007.

Source: GeoStat            

                State Treasury

                Ministry of Finance of Georgia

In the period of 2007-2014, the education sector of Georgia, as well as its contribution to the formation of GDP has increasing trend.

In 2014, the education sector increased by 2.3 times and its share in GDP increased by 1.2 % point, compared to the corresponding indicators in 2007.

In this period, state budget expenditure on education as % to GDP is 2.9 %, which exceeds the indicator of 2013 by 0.01 % point, and the indicator of 2007 by 0.31 % point.

Based on the planned indicators for 2015, the indicator of state budget expenditure on education as a % to GDP appears to be 2.7% in 2015.

Share of Education Expenditure in State Budget, 2007-2014

In 2007-2014, the state budget expenditures on education has increasing trend.

In 2014, the indicator of expenditure on education exceeds by 8.4 % to the corresponding indicator of 2013 and by 92.6 % to the corresponding indicator of 2007. According to the planned state budget expenditure for 2015, the state budget expenditure on education is supposed to increase by 15% compared to 2014.

In this period, the share of education expenditure in total state budget expenditure is 9.2%, which is 0.3% point lower compared to 2013, and 1.7% point higher compared to 2007.

In 2014, the expenditure increased on goods and services (40%), on subsidies (26.9%), on percent (25%) and on social security (11.5%), while it declined on grants (-57.1 %), on salaries (-6.6 %) and on nonfinancial actives (16.3%) compared to 2013.

Source: State Treasury

                 Ministry of Finance of Georgia

Source: State Treasury

In 2014, the structure of education expenditure by education levels is the following: general education (69.4%), higher education (12.6%), professional education (2.1%), education sector supportive activities (3.1%) and other non-classified activities in this field (12.9%).

In this period, the expenditures increased on general (16.4%; 28.7 mln. GEL), professional (55.6%; 5.2 mln. GEL) and higher (13%; 10 mln. GEL) education, as well as on education sector supportive activities (15.7%; 2.9 mln. GEL) and on other non-classified activities (31%; 20.9 mln. GEL) compared to the corresponding indicators in 2013.

In 2014, the expenditures increased on general (62%) as well as on higher education (79.8%), on supportive activities (68%) and on other non-classified activities (6.2 times), while it declined (-5.8%) on professional education compared to the corresponding indicators in 2007.

The Number of Schools and  Teachers Employed in Schools, 2007- 2014 Academic Years 

Source: GeoStat

In 2014-15 academic year, the number of schools in Georgia is 2331, among them 2085 (89%) is the public and 246 (11%) is the private school.

In this period, the total number of schools is 131 unit lower compared to the 2007-08 academic year. Due to the policies implemented in the education system of Georgia, the number of schools in public sector declined 130 units.

In 2014-15 academic year, the number of teachers in schools is 67394. Among them, 89 % is employed in public and 11 % – in private schools. The number of teachers employed in public schools declined by 13.1% (9000 unit), while the number of teachers employed in private schools increased by 14.4% (959 unit) compared the academic year of 2007-08. The number of teachers employed in public schools is declining since the academic year of 2009-10.

The Number of Higher Education Institutions and Job Positions in them,
2007 – 2014 Academic Years 

In 2014-15 academic year, the number of active higher educational institutions in Georgia is 73, among them 20 is public and 53 is private institutions.

In this period, the number of higher educational institutions is 83 units less compared to the academic year 2007-08. Among them, the number of private institutions is 84 units less and the number of public institutions is 1 unit more.

In 2014-15 academic year, the number of job positions in higher education institutions is 8389, among them, 63% are in private and 37% – in public institutions.

In this period, the number of job positions in private institutions declined by 88.2% (1420 units) and in public institutions increased by 15.5% (717 units) compared to the 2007- 08 academic year.

Source: GeoStat

Source: GeoStat

The total number of students enrolled during the 2014-15 academic year is 124223. This indicator exceeds by 5.2% (6513 units) the indicator of the academic year 2013-14.

69.4 % of the students enrolled during the 2014-15 academic year are in public and 30.6% in private higher education institutions.

The distribution of the students by programs in the academic year 2014-15 is as follows: Social sciences, business and law (47.3%), Humanities and Arts (15.4%), Healthcare and social security (10.6%), Engineering, manufacturing and construction (9.2%), Science (8.9%), Services (4.9%) , Education (2%) and Agriculture (1.9%).

The number of enrolled students in Agriculture program increased twice, in Engineering, manufacturing and construction by 48%, in Social sciences, business and law by 11.2%, in Healthcare and social security by 2.2% and Science by 1.4%, while it declined in Service program and in Humanities and Arts by 34.2% and by 8% respectively compared to the 2013-14 academic year.