The Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, Mikheil Chkhenkeli presented a ten-year plan for the development of education and science to the public. During the presentation, the Minister spoke about the planned innovations in the field of pre-school and general education and introduced the support programs developed by the Ministry in terms of ensuring access to quality education to the attending public.

The Minister focused on promoting the upbringing and development of children at an early age and noted that the Ministry has already taken a number of important steps in this direction. At this stage, bilingual education is introduced in the system, which will help to create an educational environment tailored to the needs of ethnic minorities in preschools. As for the support of foster teachers, according to Mikheil Chkhenkeli, in 2021, vocational education institutions began to implement the highest professional program of foster teachers. In addition, it is planned to gradually increase the salary of the educator teacher.

The Minister emphasized the role of teachers in the process of educating the next generation and noted that one of the main priorities of the Ministry is to promote the qualification of teachers. To this end, the Ministry has started the process of revising the teacher professional development scheme, in which teachers will be actively involved.

Mikheil Chkhenkeli noted that the development of school culture and environment plays an important role in improving students' academic results and shaping them as individuals. The Ministry is actively working on developing a new model of school management and strengthening resource centres in the process of supporting schools. A new model of school management is being developed. In particular, a model of differentiated management of schools is being established, which envisages strengthening general education institutions and giving them more autonomy. A gradual increase in school administration remuneration is envisaged.

The Minister stressed the need to create alternative models of student assessment in schools in terms of quality education, the introduction of bilingual education, as well as the offer of high-quality textbooks and modern teaching methods for students.

It is noteworthy that in order to create a modern learning environment in schools, the process of introducing the third-generation national curriculum, which involves changing the teaching methodology and promoting the development of critical, complex thinking in students, is underway intensively, taking into account the Estonian and Finnish experience. A clear example of improving teaching methodology is the introduction of the Minecraft Education Edition in schools.

As the Minister noted, in the process of introducing the National Curriculum, special attention is paid to developmental assessments tailored to the interests of students, which allow in-depth assessment of their strengths and weaknesses. The Ministry is actively working on alternative evaluation models, which will be discussed by all stakeholders.

The process of introducing bilingual education will help strengthen the integration of national minorities in schools and develop bilingual human capital. It is also important that the Ministry takes effective steps to develop digital textbooks and additional educational resources in schools.

Mikheil Chkhenkeli also spoke about the improvement of the infrastructure of general education institutions and the importance of their connection to the internet. According to him, 174 public schools have been built since 2012, 257 public schools have been fully renovated. The construction-renovation process is still active. As a result, by 2026, all schools across Georgia will be infrastructurally operational. Also, by 2026, the process of internetization and material and technical equipment will be completed in all public schools throughout Georgia, and modern sports infrastructure will be provided in schools, which will contribute to the development of mass sports and the establishment of a healthy lifestyle among young people.

The process of reforming general education is in full compliance with the new school authorization standard. For the first time in the history of Georgian education, almost all schools will be fully authorized. The process will be completed before the start of the 2026-27 academic year.

During the presentation, the conversation also focused on creating a safe educational environment for students. In this regard, the process of providing medical facilities to general education institutions has begun, as well as strengthening the social component at schools, which means increasing the number of social workers in the education system. The number of resource officers will also increase to enhance the safe school environment.

According to Mikheil Chkhenkeli, the children left out of school are a subject of special care for the Ministry. As a result of intensive work, their number was significantly reduced. The Minister noted that the Ministry is working to create an effective system to identify and respond to children left out of school in a timely manner.

Mikheil Chkhenkeli thanked the Government of Georgia for supporting the development of pre-school and general education. As he noted, the government's decision to implement general education reform in the coming years will significantly increase funding for the sector and in 2030 the general education budget will exceed 2 billion 230 million GEL.