FAQ

Authorization

  • Authorization is an external mechanism for quality assurance in education, which aims to institutionally assess the institution, determine its compliance with the standards of authorization and make appropriate recommendations to address the challenges identified in the institution.

    The authorization evaluation is performed by an authorization experts panel of and is based on the analysis of the information obtained as a result of the self-evaluation and the authorization visit. Authorization is mandatory for higher education institutions. In addition, only an authorized institution has the right to issue a diploma of education recognized by the State. 

    The process of authorization is carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG 2015).
     
    Authorization of educational institutions shall aim at ensuring meeting standards necessary for carrying out relevant activities.
     

  • A standard is a requirement imposed by a State that an institution must meet in order to issue a State-recognized education certificate.

    Compliance of a higher education institution with the authorization standards is assessed by a four‐level scale: "Complies with the requirements of the standard", "Substantially complies with the requirements of the standard", "Partially complies with the requirements of the standard" and "Does not comply with the requirements of the standard".

  • Procedures to obtain an authorization are as follows:
    a) Submitting an authorization application;
    b) Recognizing an educational institution as a status seeker;
    c) Establishing an authorization expert panel;
    d) Preliminary study of the authorization self-evaluation form and the attached documentation by an authorization experts panel of and elaboration of the visit agenda;
    e) Conducting an authorization visit;
    f) Drawing up an authorization expert panel report and submitting it to the center;
    g) Presenting the authorization expert panel report to the institution;
    h) Submitting to the Center the institution's argumentative position on the draft report of the authorization experts panel regarding the factual circumstances reflected in the draft report;
    i) Elaborating the final version of the draft report by the authorization experts panel and submitting it to the Center;
    j) Presenting the authorization experts panel report to the institution;
    k) Sending to the members of the respective Authorization council an authorization application, authorization experts panel report and the argumentative position on the draft report of the panel presented to the Center by the institution;
    l) An oral hearing on the issue of authorization and making a decision by the relevant Authorization Council;
    m) Publishing a substantiated decision by the Center.

  • -    Granting the authorization;
    -    Refusing the authorization;
    -    Canceling the authorization.
     
    In addition, the institution may receive authorization, but a deadline may be set for submitting a report on the recommendations received, and / or the council may file a motion on conducting a monitoring at the institution within the term of two years and / or student admission may be restricted.  Each condition depends on the assessments received by the institution.
    In details: https://eqe.ge/res/docs/20200602165212guidebookgeo.pdf

  • •    Authorization application - a letter written to the Director of the Center in which the educational institution expresses its desire to go through the authorization;
    •    A filled out form of the self-evaluation of the status seeker and the attached documentations
    •    A document confirming payment of the fee for review of the authorization application;

    In details
     

  • The decision regarding the authorization of a general education institution is made by the Authorization Council of General Education Institutions; 
    The decision regarding authorization of vocational education institution is made by the Authorization Council of Vocational Education Institutions;
    The decision regarding authorization of higher education institution is made by  the Authorization Council of higher Education Institutions.

  • The decision on authorization or refusal of authorization shall be made within 180 calendar days from the recognition of the institution as a status seeker. 

  • Authorization standards of higher education institution shall apply to:
    a) Mission and strategic development of a higher education institution;
    b) Organizational structure and management of the higher education institution;
    c) Educational programmes;
    d) Staff of higher educational institution;
    e) Students and their support services;
    f) Research, development and/or other creative activities;
    g) Material, information and financial resources.

    in details

  • Authorization term is 6 years for all types of educational institutions.

  • Minutes and decisions of the meeting of the Authorization Councils are published (link) on the website of the Center within 10 business days after the end of the meeting.
    Expert panel report is also published on the website of the Center.

  • The meeting is public and can be attended by anyone.  In exceptional cases, it may be declared closed and, consequently, attendance may be restricted.

  • The decision of the Authorization Council can be appealed if the educational institution does not agree with it.
    The decision can be appealed in accordance with the rules and within the timeframe by submitting an appeal to the Appeals Council (Address: Tbilisi, Merab Aleksidze Str, second turn N2) or by filing a lawsuit with the Administrative Cases Panel of the Tbilisi City Court (Address: D. Aghmashenebeli Alley, 12th km, №6.

  • A decision to refuse authorization or to cancel an authorization shall be made if, as a result of the authorization or monitoring, the institution is assessed by the Council in relation to one of the standards as "does not comply with the requirements of the standard".

    In addition, as a result of the monitoring, based on the report of the authorization expert panel the Council is authorized to make a decision on cancellation of the authorization, if the educational institution violates the standard of authorization or the norms of the legislation of Georgia in the field of education in connection with the origin, suspension or termination of the student status of the educational institution.

    In case of identification of a violation, the Council is authorized to set the term of no more than 60 days for the institution to resolve the shortcoming, except for the cases when it is obvious that this will not have any outcome.

    If the institution fails to resolve the shortcomings within 60-day term, the Council is authorized to make a decision on cancellation of authorization.

  • Students have right to transfer to other relevant institution;
    Students shall have student status suspended for 5 years and are entitled to use mobility rights.

  • If the authorization of the educational institution is canceled, it will lose the status of the educational institution and must cease to function immediately.

  • In order to check the conditions of authorization, the educational institution is obliged to submit a self-evaluation report to the center at least once every three years. The terms for the submission of the self-evaluation report are determined by the individual administrative-legal act of the Director of the Center. In case of violation of the deadline for submission of the self-evaluation report by the institution or in case of failure to submit the report, the Center is authorized to carry out monitoring to determine compliance of the existing conditions of the institution with the authorization standards. 

  • Examination of the fulfillment of the conditions of authorization by the higher education institution is carried out at the initiative of the Center, or at the request of the Council, through scheduled and / or unscheduled monitoring, as well as on the basis of the reports submitted by them to the Center.

  • The individual administrative-legal act of the Director of the Center on the establishment of an authorization experts panel of the higher education institution and on the unscheduled monitoring visit to the institution shall be submitted to the institution immediately before the start of the visit or not more than 1 day before the monitoring visit. In case of scheduled monitoring, the institution is informed after the issuance of the order.

  • The amount of the authorization fee is calculated based on the workload of the expert panel and depends on the type of institution, the number of students and the academic programme, the area and the number of addresses, etc.
    Check the detailed information in Article 13 of the Authorization Statute 

  • You must pay the fee by cashless payment.
    Requisites required for transferring funds to the Treasury: 
    Receiving Bank - State Treasury;
    Name of Recipient -State Treasury Single Account; 
    Bank Code -   TRESGE22;
    Recipient account/treasury code - 707637113 (Fee for services provided by LEPL National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement).

  • The authorization fee except for  the authorization application review fee, will be refunded in full if the educational institution requests termination of administrative proceedings prior to the establishment of the Authorization Experts Panel.

    In other cases, regardless of whether the institution gets an authorization or not, the fee will not be refunded.

  • A higher education institution can implement vocational education programmes if it meets the relevant standards of authorization.

  • The members of the Authorization Council are appointed and dismissed by the Prime Minister of Georgia upon the recommendation of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia

  • The rules and criteria for the selection of members of the Authorization Councils are not provided by the legislation of Georgia. However, for the purpose of transparency and openness of the process, the LEPL - National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement ensured the involvement of educational institutions, experts, civil society and international organizations in the selection of candidates for membership of the Authorization Councils. 

  • Office term of the members of the councils is 1 year.

  • An Authorization Council of the Higher Education Institutions is composed of 9 members.

  • Kakha Shengelia - President of Caucasus University Ltd - Chairman of the Council.

    Zurab Orjonikidze - LEPL - Head of Administration (Chancellor) of Tbilisi State Medical University - Deputy Chairman of the Council;

    Gaga Gvenetadze - LEPL - Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, PhD student - Secretary of the Council; 

    Ivane Abashidze - LEPL - Deputy Director of the Maritime Transport Agency;

    Davit Bostoganashvili - Head of Quality Assurance Department of Eastern European University Ltd, Professor of the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences;

    Elizbar Elizbarashvili -  - Manager of the General University Laboratory Center of NNLE Georgian Agrarian University, Professor; 

    Nika Tikanashvili -  Head of International Relations of the NNLE Georgian Student’s Organizations Association, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Georgian Aviation University, Associate Professor;

    Nino Imnadze - Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Urbanism and Design at LEPL Georgian Technical University, Professor;

    Gia Lobzhanidze -  Member of the Academic Council of LEPL  Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Head of the Department of General Surgery, Professor; 

    Ermile Meskhia - Dean of the Faculty of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences of LEPL Batumi Teaching University of Arts, Head of the Bachelor's Degree Programme in Culture Management and Cultural Tourism and Master's Degree Programme in Art Management; 

    Elene Zhuravlova - Associate Professor at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Medicine of LEPL - Ilia State University, the Head of Quality Assurance Department of the same Faculty;

    Lela Salakaia -  - Member of the Senate of the Association of Human Resource Management Professionals, Director of Personnel and Administrative Affairs at Veon Georgia Ltd, an Employer;

    Guyane Simonia - - Head of the Department of Medical Education, Research and Strategic Development at LEPL Tbilisi State Medical University, Professor of the Department of Geriatrics; 

    Konstantine Sirbiladze - Professor at LEPL Akaki Tsereteli State University;

    Ana Pirtskhalashvili - Vice-Rector for Scientific Research of "Georgian National University” Ltd; 

  • A member of the council may not be a public servant.

  • The term of office of a member of the Authorization Council may be terminated at the initiative of the Prime Minister of Georgia, or upon following:

    a) On the basis of a personal application;
    b) Upon the entry into force of the conviction rendered by the court against him/her;
    c) In case of being declared incapable by a court;
    d) In case of absence from sessions for six months; 
    e) In case of an action that is incompatible with the exercise of the authority of a member of the Authorization Council (if he/she becomes a public servant); 
    f) In case of activities in the structural unit of the higher education institution, which systematically provides quality management; 
    g) Upon submission by the ministry.
     

  • A list of authorized institutions can be found on the Center's website in the section -registry. The registry contains information on all higher education, vocational and general education institutions operating today. 

    If you want to get a certificate on the status of an institution, you should contact us with an application stating the name of the institution in question. The application can be sent to the official e-mail of the Center: info@eqe.ge  The certificate will be issued within 15 business days. It is free of charge.

  • The basis for determining the number of student places is the number of places indicated in the authorization application submitted to the center by the higher education institution or in the application for increasing the number of students.
    The maximum number of students indicated in the application submitted by the higher education institution should be based on the methodology for determining the maximum number of students in the institution, which takes into account the specifics of the programmes and the resources of the institution.
    A higher education institution that wants to increase the number of student places pays a fee, the amount of which is calculated according to the workload of the expert panel.

  • Fee for the Review of authorization application is 500 GEL.