Opening a private school unfolds in two layers: founding as a private-law legal person (Article 31 of the Law on General Education) and the mandatory authorization for general educational activity (Article 32). Instead of the English-language "private school licensing" frame, the page is carried by the Georgian authorization regime, while the specifics of a private school are regulated by a separate Article 33-2 — its rights and duties towards the pupil and the risk of revocation of authorization.
The organizational-legal form of founding — Article 31
Under paragraph 1 of Article 31, a general educational institution/school is a public-law legal person created under the Law on Public-Law Legal Persons, or a private-law entrepreneurial or non-entrepreneurial legal person. A private-law legal person is authorised to carry out general educational activity without creating another independent legal person — an existing company or non-profit person may itself become the carrier of the school. The institution ensures education at the primary, basic and/or secondary level.
Authorization — like any other school
The private school is likewise governed by Article 32: as a result of authorization the legal person obtains the status of a general educational institution and may issue a state-recognised document; the standards are determined by the authorization statute; the term is 9 years; and the independent authorization units are the primary, basic, secondary, foreign-language and multi-municipality programmes. An institution founded in private-law form may additionally acquire the right to implement a preschool education and school-readiness programme.
The specific duties of a private school — Article 33-2
Where a financial debt arises, the private school is obliged to let the pupil complete the current semester; termination of status is possible only after the end of the semester, within a reasonable period before the next semester begins, in order to ensure the pupil's unimpeded mobility. Upon the emergence of the debt the school must warn the parent in writing, set a reasonable period for fulfilment and explain the consequences of non-fulfilment; and it must notify the Ministry and the parent of a termination decision no later than the following day.
Document circulation is also precisely regulated: on a pupil's mobility to another school, the private school must hand over the personal file and enrollment documents to the receiving school within 3 working days of the request and application, and return any prepaid tuition to the parent within 5 working days. Non-fulfilment of these paragraphs is a ground for revocation of authorization — the law places the pupil's interest above the private school's commercial interest.