Ekaterine Dgebuadze, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia held a working meeting with the Representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF Georgia) Ghassan Khalil and the Ambassadors of Bulgaria, Norway and Estonia on June 1, International Children's Day.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss current and planned projects in the field of general education, as well as the prospects of enhancing the cooperation between the parties.

Moreover, the attending delegates discussed important issues such as supporting the full integration of students with special educational needs in Georgia, as well as developing various educational mechanisms, providing education for children left out of school and promoting teacher’s training and career development.

The Deputy Minister noted that the Ministry plans to implement several important projects in this direction, in conjunction with designing an alternative curriculum to support all students left behind in education. Additionally, participants discussed the joint project of the Ministry and the Embassy of Estonia, which envisages the revision of the national curriculum for the secondary level, Grades XI and XII in accordance with international experience and standards.

Furthermore, the conversation also focused on distance learning. The guests congratulated the Deputy Minister on the Ministry’s success in this direction. Ghassan Khalil thanked the Deputy Minister for the exemplary cooperation between the Ministry and UNICEF in the process of implementing remote learning. She noted that the Ministry has ensured a proper introduction of distance learning at schools, which in turn guaranteed the continuous flow of education throughout the country.

Ghassan Khalili: “UNICEF congratulates each child on International Children's Day. We are grateful that the Deputy Minister of Education celebrated this day with an especially important meeting. We discussed the issues of children's right to education, as well as, how we can overcome the challenges in the field of education, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry is working tirelessly in this direction and UNICEF is making the highest assessment of the Ministry's efforts to overcome the existing challenges. Today we also had a good opportunity to meet with the Ambassadors of Estonia, Bulgaria, and Norway, who are indeed great supporters of children's education rights in Georgia.”

At the end of the meeting, Ekaterine Dgebuadze thanked the audience for the fruitful cooperation and the implementation of several significant projects. The parties expressed readiness for close cooperation and planned future meetings to discuss important issues in detail.