CHAPTER 8
Rooting Out Corruption in University Entrance Examinations
The State of Affairs in 2003 Education funding in Georgia dried up following the collapse of the Soviet Union. By the time of the Rose Revolution, all educational institutions suffered from a lack of books, barely qualified teachers, and crumbling infrastructures. Salaries were so low—a university professor earned about GEL 60 a month in 2002, less than half the minimum subsistence level—that bribe taking was considered an acceptable way to get by. Students paid bribes to get into universities, to pass exams, and to get their diplomas. Although the quality of education was usually poor, having a university degree conferred a certain social status and granted access to jobs. The university admission system was considered the most corrupt area in higher education. Theoretically, candidates were accepted solely on their performance on university entrance examinations. In practice, a system of patronage permeated the entire process, with university presidents admitting the sons and daughters of politicians in exchange for political support. Other students got in by bribing middlemen—little-known university professors or school employees who were responsible for collecting money and passing it upward to influential university staff and members of the examination panels. Outstanding students were usually 75