Some ethnic Azerbaijanians living in Georgia don’t let their daughters to continue their education
The morning in Ferma village of Kaspi region in Georgia… Teen-ager boys have their breakfast and prepare to go to school. Teen-ager girls after breakfast dress up and sit at home. They prepare to get married.
In Ferma village more than 90 percent of the populations are ethnic azerbaijanians. Girls usually get married in this village when they become teen-ager. If girl passes teen-ager term and can not get married, village inhabitants say that “this girl has stayed at home”. It means her marriage period has already gone and nobody will marry to her.
Because of this tradition girls are less among the pupil of the village school. For example, 26 students study at the 6th class of Ferma Village Basic School. 20 of them are boys and six are girl students.
“Boys dominate in our class. But at 1st or 2nd class girls were more than boys. Year by year they were decreasing. Because they got married,” 11 years old Davud Aliyev, the pupil of this class says.
Davud Aliyev: "Year by year girls were decreasing. Because they got married”
Educational period is 12 years in Georgia. Nine years-schools are called Basic Schools and give only basic education, not secondary.
Ferma is one of ten ethnic azerbaijanian’s villages in Kaspi region. Kaspi region is located in Shido-Kartli province. In these ten villages and in Marneul, Gardaban, Bolnis and Dumanis – Kvemo-Kartli province’s regions – where azerbaijanians have mostly located in Georgia – the situation is alike. The resident of Marneul city, 14 years old girl Nurana Hasanova is one of the girls who left school for marriage…
Her family is planning that Nurana Hasanova will marry before end of the year. In the beginning of November she left the school for this reason. She was studing at 6th class. Her mother Gulshan says that groom’s family is good. And they are relatives, that’s why she agreed to give her daughter:“I know that Nurana will be happy if she is married. The main thing is for me she will be married with good family and will be happy. And if such family found my girl now, it’s good”.
Hasanov’s family consists of five people: mother, three daughters and a son. Children’s ages lines up as: Nurana 14, Gulara 12, Ayten 9, and Anar 3 years old. Father left family after Anar’s birth. Gulshan says that her husband didn’t want another child. But pregnant Gulshan wanted to give a birth. Father kicked Gulshan’s tummy to kill the child. Gulshan gave a birth. And after this her husband left family.
“It was his pretext. Anyway, he wanted to leave us,” says Gulshan.
Working at neighbor’s yards, houses as a servant and with help of other neighbors or charitable organizations Gulshan grow her children. And now she wants to give marry her elder daughter who is 14 years old. When there was discussion at their home about Nurlana’s marriage, she was at school. When she returned home mother said to her the decision: “These people are match-marker, they came to ask you to marry with this guy (showing future husband). Do you agree?” And Nurana’s answer was “Yes, I do”.
“I liked him. He is handsome,” she says. The day after decision Nurana didn’t go to school. Her teacher came after her to ask for coming to school. And Nurana’s answer was so: “Yesterday my mother said “yes” to my math-makers. After this I will not come to school. I don’t want to study”.
Shahali Ismayilov, director of Farmer Village Basic School says that keeping girls from schools is common in all regions and villages in Georgia, where ethnic azerbaijanians live. It is the same for Shedo-Kartli and Kvemo-Kartli provinces. Director says that he speaks with girl’s parents to make them agree to educate their daughters. Every year he can make agree two or three families: “Usually parents take their daughters out after 6th or 7th class. They keep them at home and don’t let go to school. It means that: “My daughter is already not going school, she is ready for marriage”. And after this, match-makers knock at her door.”
Statistic: At Ferma village Basic School 252 pupils study. 160 of them are boys and 92 are girls. At the 2008-2009 academic year 25 students finished Basic School. Now, ten of these school-leavers continue their education at secondary school. All of them are boys.
Ferma Basic School
The Ministry of Education of Georgia, intelligent of Ferma village, school teachers, respectable persons and Non Governmental Organizations (NGO) which works on education sphere try to solve limitation on girl’s education. NGOs make project to break “girl-school” stereotype.
Ramila Aliyeva have worked in a project which teachs girls an English and to work on computer in Ferma village. But she says that they couldn’t find a girl student for a class. With helping school teachers she have gone to the residents’ homes.
“We knocked at the doors and asked to let their daughter participte at the courses, even sometimes we entreat parents for this. We say them: “Uncle Ahmed, Uncle Ali let their daughter study, please you do so, too. Uncle Arif, uncle Shamil let her daughter to study, please you let, too”. And the course which began with two girls, after ten month number of girls reached to 20.
The Ministry of Education of Georgia works for drawing girls to school. Nika Gvaramia, Minster of Education says they make some projects about this problem: “As a government we work on this problem. With propaganda and some different ways we try to call girls to school. It’s compulsory education in Georgia. But because of this is as a tradition for azerbaijanians, we still don’t want to force them. But as we work, the families have to work with us too.”
"I want to study"
NGOs’ projects and other works help to break stereotype of families. NGOs, teachers say this. And parents as Rashid Aliyev who agree to educate his/her daughters think so too: “I have two daughters and a son. All of them study at the Ferma village school. I’ll not take my daughters out from school. And I want them to enter to university, too. And it will be good if they choose their husbands themselves, I’ll not interference”.
Ramila Aliyeva, 25, who worked as a project manager about girl’s education in Kaspi region, has faced with the same problem when she was teenager too. She is ethnic azerbaijanian and she was born in Gardaban city. When she finished secondary school, father and relatives didn’t let her to continue her education at university. Thanks to her obstinacy she entered university and continued her education till master degree. Now, she works for Gerogian TV channel as a reporter. And she is chief of one Azerbaijanian Youth Organization.
She has a five years old daughter. Next year she will go to school. And Ramila thinks to help her daughter in education.
General situation of the education in the regions and villages where ethnic azerbaijanians live, still looks like as a football stadium of the school which Davud Aliyev described as: “Boys play and girls only applaud.”
