[EDLING:1288] Conference on Language Policies and Education in Multilingual Societies to be held in Tbilisi

[Francis M. Hult]

Conference on Language Policies and Education in Multilingual Societies to be 
held in Tbilisi

http://www.caucaz.com/home_eng/depeches.php?idp=821

Tbilisi, 1st March 2006 (CIMERA Press release - website) - CIMERA, a Swiss non-
profit organization, is pleased to invite to the conference “Language Policies 
and Education in Multilingual Societies” on March 2, 2006 at the Sympatia 
Hotel in Tbilisi (Gagarin St. 4, 1st Alley). All sessions of the conference 
are open to the media.

The event will gather representatives from the Ministry of Education and 
Science and other state officials, education professionals, foreign 
multilingual education experts, civil society representatives from Kvemo 
Kartli and Samtskhe-Javakheti regions, as well as international organizations. 
Among the key speakers are the Deputy Minister of Education and Science of 
Georgia Ms. Bela Tsipuria, and the Director of the OSCE High Commissioner on 
National Minorities Mr. John de Fonblanque.

The conference addresses the challenges Georgia faces in the field of language 
education, against a background of current reform of the education system. 
Presentations will include: language-related aspects of the education reform 
in Georgia, case studies from other multilingual countries and conceptual 
aspects of multilingual education. The last part of the conference, in form of 
a panel discussion, is dedicated to the “Education challenges in multilingual 
Georgia”. 

A two-day workshop will follow the conference and gather a restrained group of 
representatives from the Ministry of Education and Science, other education 
professionals from Tbilisi, Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli regions and 
foreign multilingual education experts. During the workshop, the participants 
will brainstorm on alternative models of language education and analyze their 
feasibility, advantages and drawbacks.

Both events are organized by CIMERA as part of its long-term endeavor to offer 
support to the development of language and education policies in Georgia. The 
initiative is supported by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and 
the OSCE / High Commissioner on National Minorities. The NGO Public Movement 
Multinational Georgia has assisted CIMERA in the organization of the 
conference.

For further information, and to arrange interviews, please contact Aurélie 
Perrin (+995) 93 766 936, aurelie.perrin at cimera.org.