Which disciplinary sanctions may a school apply to a student?

Besides measures of responsibility established by legislation, the internal rules may provide for a warning, strict warning, expulsion from a lesson, temporary dismissal from school, assignment of activity useful to the school, and other sanctions. Every measure must be reasonable, substantiated, and proportionate; the parent is notified immediately of a sanction, and the student may appear together with a parent when the matter is decided.

Can a student be searched at school?

Only a non-contact surface inspection is allowed, and only where there is a sufficient basis for presumption. It is conducted by a mandatur or authorized person of the student's respective sex, a school employee is present, and collective inspections are impermissible. The parent is notified immediately and a protocol is drawn up.

Am I obliged to wear a school uniform?

A school may introduce a uniform in a way that does not restrict freedom of expression. At the same time, students and teachers have the right to reasonably refuse to wear it.

What must a school do in case of physical or verbal violence?

Violence at school is impermissible. In case of physical or verbal insult the school must react immediately in the manner established by legislation; the mandatur informs the parent, the director, and where necessary law enforcement bodies.

Student Rights at School and the Right to Appeal in Georgia

Q: How can I appeal an illegitimate action of a teacher or the school?

Students, parents, and teachers may appeal unlawful actions of the teacher, the school, and the mandatur and claim full compensation for damage. The school is obliged to create an effective means of independent and impartial consideration of complaints, and the mandatur service an effective means of impartial consideration. Deadlines and the detailed procedure are set by other legislative acts and the school's internal rules.

The Right to General Education and Its Accessibility

Every student has an equal right to receive full general education so as to fully develop his or her personality and acquire the knowledge and skills needed for equal opportunities in private and social life. Primary and basic education are compulsory. The state creates a general education system and appropriate socioeconomic conditions, and guarantees every student — including students with special educational needs — the right to receive general education in the state or native language, as close as possible to their place of residence. Where exercising this right through the standard voucher is impossible, the state provides such students with an increased voucher and/or additional funding within a corresponding targeted program approved by the ministry.

For a student with special educational needs, an alternative curriculum, an individual curriculum based on the national curriculum, and/or an extended curriculum is used, under which his or her teaching, social adaptation, and integration into public life are carried out. In a public school, such a student must, when needed, be provided with appropriate human resources and programs or services, financed by the state.

Basic Guarantees at School and the Limits of Restrictions

Students, parents, and teachers, as well as their associations, are entitled — on equal terms, without discrimination, and in accordance with the established procedure — to enjoy, during school hours or on school territory, all rights and freedoms protected by law and recognized by the school, as well as all school resources. A school may restrict rights at those times and places only on a non-discriminatory basis, namely where a substantial and imminent danger exists to the safety of health, life, or property; to preventing encouragement of drugs, alcohol, or tobacco consumption or unlawful action; to preventing the spread of indecency or slander, the incitement of ethnic or religious strife, or inducement to crime or violence; or to preventing obstruction of the educational process, school activities, or free movement on school territory.

Any restriction of the rights of a student, parent, or teacher must be reasonable, proportionate, and minimal, and must be imposed only on the basis of the established procedure, in full compliance with the Teacher's Professional Ethics Code, through proper and fair process. The school is obliged to introduce every new student, parent, and teacher to their rights and freedoms, and when restricting them to explain the ground for the restriction within a reasonable time. Information for a student must be supplied in a manner appropriate to his or her age and individual abilities, through accessible means of communication. Students, parents, and teachers also have the right to hold information about their rights and the grounds for restricting them, and the right to participate in school governance personally or through an elected representative.

The Right to Appeal — Every Stage of the Dispute

The law empowers students, parents, and teachers to defend their rights and freedoms by appealing unlawful and otherwise illegitimate actions of the teacher, the school, and the educational institution resource officer (the mandatur), and to receive full compensation for damage caused. The school is obliged to create an effective means of independent and impartial consideration of complaints; the same obligation — creating an effective means of impartial consideration of complaints — is imposed on the mandatur service. This is the first stage of dispute resolution, elaborated in the school's internal rules and other legislation.

The second stage is the court: labor disputes arising between a public school director and the school's staff, between the board of trustees and the director, and between the director and the ministry are examined by a court under civil procedure as civil disputes. In court, a public school is represented — on the basis of the director's power of attorney — by an employee of the ministry or its relevant territorial body, and on the territories of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Achara, by an employee of the corresponding authorized ministry. Specific deadlines for filing a complaint are not directly fixed by these norms; they are determined by other legislative acts, so in each case those acts and the school's internal rules must be consulted.

Neutrality and the Prohibition of Discrimination

Politicization of the educational process in a general education institution is impermissible. In a public school it is impermissible to use the educational process for the purposes of religious indoctrination, proselytism, or forced assimilation; this norm does not, however, restrict the celebration of state holidays and historical dates or events aimed at establishing national and universal values. Any discrimination at admission to school is impermissible; an entrance competition is allowed only in institutions providing military, specialized arts, and sports training, as well as in schools of other statuses, and when conducting a competition the person's special educational needs must be taken into account.

A school may not use its powers and resources in a way that may directly or indirectly cause discrimination against a student, parent, or teacher, or their associations. Any differentiating action or exception is considered discrimination unless it is just and reasonable and serves ensuring the free development and equal opportunities of each person and group. The school is obliged to protect and promote tolerance and mutual respect among students, parents, and teachers, regardless of their social, ethnic, religious, linguistic, and worldview affiliation. A separate clause enforces the requirements of the law on family values and protection of minors: it is impermissible to include in the school's educational program, or for a school employee within school activities or on school territory to disseminate or promote dissemination of, information aimed at the popularization prohibited by that law; the term "popularization" is defined by that same law.