On October 5, 2009, the Free Trade Union of Teachers and Scientists marked World Teachers’ Day with a protest rally. The reason for the protest was the parliament’s disregard of the 60,000 signatures that teachers had submitted to the legislature several months earlier. With these signatures, teachers confirmed their demand to amend the Law on General Education.

“The initiative calls for permanent employment contracts for teachers, for the Code of Ethics to be developed by teachers themselves, for the illegal dismissals of teachers to stop, and for the resolution of other issues that the President of Georgia had personally promised teachers on May 8, 2008, in Tskneti,” said Manana Ghurchumelidze, president of the Free Trade Union of Teachers and Scientists of Georgia.

Speaking to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Khatuna Ochiashvili, deputy chair of the Parliament’s Education Committee, stated that although the initiative would be discussed, it was certain to fail, since, as she claimed, “all the demands are already being met.”