In Tbilisi, students at the State Medical University are protesting a new testing fee the Georgian government has imposed just days before residency qualification exams begin.
Eighty lari (£21) may not mean much for some, but for medical students who have finished their degree and are already dismayed at the prospect of paying for a residency, the introduction of further fees has triggered their feelings over on-going problems. Residency, a mandatory stage in becoming a doctor, can be expensive, with students having to pay 150 lari (£39) a month to public healthcare providers and 250-600 lari (£66-£158) to private providers for the privilege.
Coming in a holiday month when money is already tight, this new decree is a fresh example of the problems plaguing Georgia: the alienation citizens feel towards the state and society, the outsourcing of responsibility to individuals, the driving factors of emigration, disrespect towards labor performed, the subpar education system, and the deeply flawed and commodified medical system.
