The Impact of Education Reforms on Higher Education Student’s Autonomy (Georgia as a Case Study)

Abstract

Recently there has been a trend towards making higher education students’ learning autonomous in most parts of the world,but the advantages of autonomy itself have not been harnessed to full capacity, which is limiting the abilities and capabilitiesof higher educationstudents(Saba, 2012; Moore, 1983; Xhaferi & Xhaferi, 2011).Thisarticle examinestheconcept ofstudents’autonomy,inhigher education systems. Thestudy focuses on the case of Georgianhigher education students whoexperiencedasharp changefromthe soviet systemof learning toreforms which encouragestudents’autonomy.Theaim oftheresearch is to discover the Georgian highereducationstudents’readiness forstudent autonomy.Theconclusion isthatstudentsare only partially ready for more student autonomy,especially such its form as distance learning.