New Standards to Be Introduced in Georgian Kindergartens from 2018

New standards will be introduced in Georgian kindergartens from next year that envisage raising the qualification of teachers, improving the quality of pre-school institutions and raising the quality of children’s education.

“With the development and implementation of new educational standards, in 2-4 years, we will have public and private kindergartens of international standards across the country,” Head of the Tbilisi Kindergarten Management Agency, Temur Tordinava, stated.

The "Early Preschool and Education Law" adopted in 2011 includes a commitment to elaborate a number of technical regulations and standards. The new standards were approved by the Government of Georgia on October 27, 2017, in order to improve the quality of education in pre-school institutions.

The Head of the Tbilisi Kindergarten Management Agency stated that from the next year, kindergarten teachers will have the status of educator-teacher in pre-school institutions.

He explained that the status of the educator-teacher is higher than that of care-giver. Up to 2500 teachers are working in public kindergartens in Tbilisi at present and while he recognizes that not all of them will be able to gain the status of educator-teacher, all will undergo training.

Tordinava underlined that from September 1, 2024, only those with higher education will be allowed to work in preschool education institutions. At present, it is not necessary to have higher education to work as a teacher in kindergarten.

“Those employees who undergo the relevant trainings and receive enough points, will be granted the status of educator-teacher and will be allowed to continue teaching in kindergartens,” he added.

Moreover, according to Tordinava, from 2018 both private and public kindergartens will need to be officially authorized.

“When all kindergartens in the country undergo the authorization process, we will have a real picture as to whether private and public gardens satisfy the proper conditions. After that, the relevant measures will be taken," he said, adding that kindergarten authorization may not begin until 2020.

Reforms should also be implemented in the regions so that the children have the same services throughout the country.

“The introduction and development of new standards requires considerable financial and human resources. The implementations of these standards will be mandatory in private and public kindergartens," Tordinava concluded.

Today, 171 kindergartens are under the control of Tbilisi Kindergarten Management Agency. A total of 61,500 children go to pre-school institutions in the capital.

Thea Morrison