Georgian university chancellor says reform "takes away institutional autonomy and academic freedom"

The chancellor of Ilia State University, one of Georgia's top universities, says her institution opposes the government's reform of the higher education system, which aims to limit foreign students, impose student quotas and decide which disciplines universities can offer.

"The reform shifts back to a centralised model of governance of the institutions and takes away our institutional autonomy and academic freedom", Ketevan Darakhvelidze, chancellor of Ilia State University, told News Tank in an interview on 31/03/2026.

The chancellor said that the reform, which was approved in October 2025, never went through the usual consultation process. "The key people who need to make decisions in academia and the students were never consulted, which is required by the local law, the Bologna process and the Tirana communique."

Georgia's Minister of Education, Science and Youth, Givi Mikanadze, has defended the reform, saying that the "number of quotas was based on a labour market analysis, conducted by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, which revealed many problems and…