According to Article 2 para ‘n’ of the Law of Georgia on General Education, a complete
general education in Georgia consists of three levels: primary education (six years), basic education (three years) and secondary education (three years). In accordance with
Article 9 para 1 of the same law, gaining of a primary and basic education shall be mandatory. In addition, Article 84 para 2 of the Juvenile Justice Code enshrines that the
elementary and basic education should be provided to the accused or convicted minors.
Despite this provision in the law, it is voluntary to go to school. The institution is trying
to establish certain benefits so that the convicts have a desire to go to school.
The maximum duration of the lessons is 30 minutes. There are 5 lessons per day with
the 5 minutes breaks. The above difference is justified by the fact that the convicts
should not be overwhelmed, tired from the educational process. The teachers are oriented on the fulfillment of the main tasks during the lesson and do not give independent
extracurricular homework. At the end of the reporting period, 12 pupils were officially
registered in the school.
Unlike the Institution N11, general education programmes running in the Institutions N8
and N2 are not affiliated with any public schools and therefore, no document certifying
the completion of the programme is issued. The main objective of the programmes offered by these institutions is to ensure continuity of the education process as long as a
juvenile has a status of a convict. As a result, the offenders do not demonstrate strong
interests towards the programme and often skip classes.
It is noteworthy that the juvenile prisoners often face problems when it comes to the
enrollment in classes as it entails a series of procedures and requires the active participation of the parents. Often parents cannot afford travel to Tbilisi to sign a document.
It should also be noted that in some cases the schools where juvenile offenders had attended classes prior to entering the system, are reluctant to accelerate the process and
refrain from partnering with a school affiliated to the Institution N11.
The standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners specifies that juvenile education should be obligatory and authorities of an institution must pay special attention
to its administration. According to the rule “All prison staff shall at all times so conduct
themselves and perform their duties as to influence the prisoners for good by their example and to command their respect.”206
The accused/convicted juveniles placed in the penitentiary system often encounter
problems while registering for the national exams. Namely, the juvenile should be registered by the parent, however, there are a number of cases when the family cannot
manage this, therefore, the role of the social service is very important in this regards.
In 2015, 2 entrants were placed in the institution and both of them wanted to pass the
206 The Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, Rule 77.
NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM (NPM), 2015
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