EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES OF THE AKHALTSIKHE DE-PARTMENT OF SOCIETY FOR THE SPREADING OF LITERACY AMONG GEORGIANS FOR THE POPULATION OF MUSLIM GEOR-GIANS

Abstract

The Akhaltsikhe Department of the Society for the Spreading of Literacy  among Georgians was founded  on November 13, 1913  at the  meeting   of Society for the Spreading of Literacy among Georgians held on 21 March, 1907, on the base  of a New Charter approved by the government. The best representatives of the intellectuals,  distinguished for their public activities in Samtskhe-Javakheti  were united in it. The department had been existed  for fourteen years and  ceased its  functioning  in 1927 together with its head  office. The first chairman of the society was Dimitri Khakhutashvili. On May 14, 1917 another meeting of the Akhaltsikhe Department was held at the City Council. Zakaria Jinchveladze was elected to be a Chairman of the Board.

The Akhaltsikhe Department was the successor of the head of society, and consequently the successor of all the work it had been doing for three decades. The department has thoroughly studied the current situation in the field of education and culture in Samtskhe-Javakheti and the cultural-educational network. Accordingly, it continued its work.

The  main  goal  of the department was to open schools for the Muslim Georgian population living in Samtskhe-Javakheti.  The foundation  of schools in the villages - Oshora, Agara, Klde,  and Tatanisi was identified at the very first meeting of the Board. From the materials found,  we see that the residents  of the village Ghreli asked  the Akhaltsikhe Department for help  and insisted on constructing  a  school  and   save the little Georgians from degeneration.

During its existence, the department took care not only of expanding the network of schools but also of libraries in Samtskhe-Javakheti. It also paid great attention to the maintenance of historical monuments. The society was actively involved in the activities carried out by the head office of the society.

Despite great efforts, the activity of the society has not been positively evaluated which can be explained by many reasons. One of the major reasons was no funding that influenced the  results   of  the  work of department.