EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES OF THE AKHALTSIKHE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIETY FOR THE SPREADING OF LITERACY AMONG GEORGIANS FOR THE POPULATION OF MUSLIM GEORGIANS

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.