For the first time in the Georgian education system, social workers will help students overcome various social barriers by providing a healthy, positive educational environment at schools while supporting parental involvement in their school life.

28 qualified workers selected by the resource officer service at the first stage of the competition will be distributed in the psycho-social service centres of Georgia, in particular in the offices of Tbilisi, Kakheti, Kvemo Kartli, Adjara-Guria, Imereti and Racha-Lechkhumi. An additional 22 applicants will be selected through a special competition, and eventually, the centres of all regions of Georgia will have a social worker who will provide relevant social services to students and their parents.

Ekaterine Dgebuadze, First Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, together with Nino Shatberashvili, Deputy Head of the Resource Officer Service, met with social workers employed in the education system and talked to them about the importance of strengthening the social care component at schools.

As Ekaterine Dgebuadze noted, the integration of social workers in the general education system will reduce and eliminate the factors hindering the effective involvement of children in the educational process. In addition, they will be actively involved in the communication process with the parents, guardians or legal representatives of the adolescents. In particular, social workers will hold educational meetings in schools and with families, with the parents, legal representatives, teachers and school administration staff, to raise awareness and promote healthy school environment.