38 leading Georgian Universities released a joint statement, highlighting that any political process should remain outside the “academic space” amid the protest rallies against the Bill on Transparency.

“The fundamental basis of our European future is the education of young people in a free and non-discriminatory environment. Therefore, we believe that any political process should remain outside the academic space. Therefore, it should not affect the functioning of universities and the conduct of teaching and learning.

Students’ interests and educational process should not be harmed and that it was fundamentally valuable to ensure freedom of expression.

It is unacceptable that some representatives of the academic staff refuse to fulfil their duties. This prevents the educational process. This violates the student’s constitutional right. It should be noted that despite the [latest] developments [in the country], the educational process continues in the universities. In addition, non-attendance of lectures by the academic staff is not only a violation of their obligations under the law and employment contracts with universities, but also directly harms the interests of students attending lectures today.

It is the responsibility of each university, its academic staff to ensure the continuous educational process for students and the creation of a politics-free, healthy and academic educational environment in university spaces.

If our goal is to make Georgia a better place, then the only and best way to achieve this is to receive a quality education. It is unacceptable for us that certain groups make political statements on behalf of universities. It is the duty of each of us to provide an appropriate educational environment for our students, which is especially important today on the path of Georgia’s European integration”, - reads the statement.