Tamar Sanikidze, Minister of Education and Science of Georgia held a working meeting with the journalists within the framework of the project “Good Governance in Georgia”. The Minister spoke about the plans and strategic directions for 2014 and ongoing projects.

As Minister noted, the current year is the year of consolidation for the Education system. Unified Strategy of the Ministry (2014-2024) will be finished in spring of 2014. The strategy will be based on access to quality education and life-long learning.

Tamar Sanikidze reviewed the ongoing and planned projects:

Genaral Education:

Monitoring and assessment of National Curriculum implementation process in order to ensure education quality. Comparative analysis with successful examples of other countries is finished. Review of National Curriculum is planned in several directions in 2014.

Teachers’ professional development and career scheme will be approved shortly. Professional standards for teachers and school principals are ready to be approved;

• Works on textbook standards is finished. This will eliminate problems connected with book and paper quality, weight and script.
• School doctor standard has been elaborated based on a Safe School program.
• Construction of 9 new schools is under way. 5 new schools are planned to be built in 2014. Rehabilitation and heating system installation works are under way.
• Inclusion of children with special educational needs in education system will be developed, etc.

Vocational Educaiton:

• VET Strategy has been developed (2013-202). According to a plan, The EU support program is to start and the Country shall receive 27 million Euros in the period of four years.
• A new financing mechanism has started to work, as a result, up to 15 000 students will be provided with vocational education free of charge.
• Technical and material conditions of vocational education institutions will be strengthened taking into consideration specifications of education.
• 50 professional standards have been reviewed. Review of 100 more standards is planned in 2014.
• Within MCC Compact approximately 14 million USD will be invested during five years in private and state vocational education institutions.

Higher Education and Science:

• works are underway to improve legislative base and the financing mechanism;
• Within the MCC Compact, 30 million USD will be spent on the development of technologies of exact and natural Sciences directions and engineering during five-year period.
• Support of higher education institutions’ priority directions shall increase, among them the support of Agrarian studies.
• Provision of research and teaching/learning process unity will become a priority issue.
• Georgia is on the list of 20 countries, the USA shall support in the field of science (Stip)
• international database will be available for Georgian scientists.

By the end of the meeting Minister Sanikidze answered questions of the journalists.