Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) hosted a solemn event of awarding diplomas to the graduates of MA Program in Public Administration.
 

As part of the cooperation between TSU and German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer, the English-language, interdisciplinary MA Program in Public Administration has been operating at the TSU Faculty of Law since 2009. The academic staff of both TSU and Speyer University are equally involved in the implementation of the program. After the program completion, a TSU diploma will be awarded, indicating cooperation with the University of Speyer. About 200 students graduated from the program during its existence. This year, the program has 12 graduates. However, diplomas were also awarded to those graduates who completed their studies in the period of the COVID 19 pandemic.
 

“Any democratic, legal state is built on the principle according to which public administration is of decisive importance in the state bureaucratic system. To ensure proper functioning of the state bureaucratic system, it is essential to have professional public officials in the state institutions. This, in turn, requires getting good education. Our graduates had the opportunity to study public administration built on European principles and concepts. The university, our faculty, and our students are proud that they were able to complete an important and very difficult program, to get an academic degree. Since this is a program with international standards, international accreditation, it means that our graduates have access to the European labor market. Several of our students are already working in European structures and they have taken quite successful career steps,” Professor Irakli Burduli, head of the program from TSU, said.
 

MA Program in Public Administration is the first internationally accredited master’s program in Georgia - the first accreditation was granted in 2015 that was an unprecedented event in the Georgian university space. International re-accreditation of the program took place in 2021 and, again, the program obtained international accreditation without remarks and recommendations for a term of seven years. The head of the program from the German side, Professor of the University of Speyer and Honorary Doctor of TSU, Andreas Knorr said that the program has been operating successfully for 15 years. He noted that the program has a lot of successful graduates who hold high positions both in the public sector of Georgia and in international organizations. He stressed that their goal was to develop a program, which would meet European standards, as well as to train new personnel for the public administration system of Georgia, adding that this goal was achieved.
 

The cooperation between TSU and Speyer University was deepened in 2013 with the establishment of a joint Institute of Administrative Sciences. The Institute operates at TSU and focuses on scientific and research activities in the field of public administration. The Institute has organized about 30 scientific-practical forums; manuals and forum materials have been published. To further enhance the cooperation, it is planned to create a doctoral program with TSU, Speyer University and Andrássy University Budapest being the implementing parties.
 

Gvantsa Ichkiti, a graduate of the MA Program in Public Administration, said that the program gave her and her peers the opportunity to find employment in the Georgian and international labor market: “The learning process was very interesting and diverse, as it covered legal, local self-government, economic and other issues. The education received within the framework of the program helped us in our professional development and paved the way for finding a job.”
 

Vice Rector of Andrássy University Budapest, Prof. Dr. Stefan Okruch, representatives of the Parliament of Georgia, the Civil Service Bureau, various ministries and non-governmental organizations, as well as students and academic staff attended the event.