The tension in Tbilisi State University reminds us once again that since the time of the Soviet Union, the oldest university of Georgia has not had real independence for a single day, Lelo says in a statement.

According to them, the Soviet tradition of political management of the university continued even during the years of Georgia's independence.

"None of the Georgian governments found the right political will to carry out a fundamental reform and free Tbilisi State University from political influence.

The result of this is the complete decline of the culture of freedom in the university, which is expressed today in having only one candidate for the rectorship. We consider it inadmissible that there is only one candidate in the elections for the rectorship of Tbilisi State University. This is completely inconsistent with the norms and standards of the modern world, the principles of free competition and academic freedom.

Lelo for­ Georgia believes that Tbilisi State University is the common property of students and professors of this university. Accordingly, our goal is to empower students and faculty as much as possible so that they can jointly create a modern world-class university based on the best traditions.

In order to achieve this goal, according to Le­lo, a systemic reform should be implemented immediately in order to achieve:

Full autonomy, both academically and administratively. Our goal is to completely free Tbilisi State University from political influences and expel the State Security Service from the university;

Creation of an effective, targeted and transparent funding system, which will be adjusted to students and to the task of developing the quality of the academic process;

Carrying out academic reform in order to further improve the educational process," the statement said.

source: IPN