Several hundred would-be medical students resumed a protest rally outside the Parliament on March 15. Their rally was broken up by police on March 14 after protesters tried to set up tents outside the Parliament.
The protesters are students of the State Medical College who argue that according to an agreement with the State Medical University they have the right to be enrolled in the State Medical University without taking any entrance examinations upon completion of three years of study at the State Medical College – a privilege which was abolished by a new Education Law passed by the Georgian Parliament last December.
The opposition Labor Party, the New Rights-Industrialists and Go Forward Georgia (Tsin Sakartvelo) movement have come out in support of the protesters and have demanded that the government take the potential students’ demands into consideration.
Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze called on protesters on March 15 not to allow political forces to use the rally, which has been ongoing for the last few weeks, for their political purposes.
The government, particularly the Education Ministry, does not intend to make any concessions, claiming that all would-be students should be treated equally and required to pass entry exams.
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