Georgian Gov’t Adopts Standards & Technical Regulations on Pre-school Education

The Government of Georgia adopted national mandatory standards and technical regulations on pre-school education last week.

The new standards were the requirement of the Law on Early and Preschool Education, adopted by the Parliament in 2016. According to the new mandatory standards, by the end of 2018, each kindergarten, state as well as private, will have to undergo authorization to operate.

The national standards and technical regulations, approved by the Government, are:

• The State Standards of Early and Preschool Education;
• Professional Standards for Caregiver Pedagogues;
• Technical Regulations on Organization of Nutrition/Meals and Establishing Nutritional Value Norms for Institutions;
• Technical Regulations on the Rules of Observing Sanitary and Hygiene Norms at Institutions.

It is believed that the standards will promote the establishment of child-centred educational processes that support child development in response to the child's interests and needs, creation of a safe and child-friendly environment, improvement of water, sanitary and hygiene conditions, provision of adequate nutrition for children.

UNICEF welcomed the adoption of the national mandatory standards and technical regulations on pre-school education in Georgia, adding the organization provided technical support to relevant ministries to initiate draft standards and technical regulations.

“We do hope that the Government will soon approve the Technical Regulations for Buildings, Infrastructure, Material and Technical Resources of Institutions, as well as the Rule for Authorization of kindergartens, that will ensure realization of the Law on Early and Preschool Education,” UNICEF stated.

The organization believes that Municipalities are responsible for ensuring the implementation of the standards in preschools, and thus should allocate the required budget from 2018 onwards.

“To introduce the standards, the municipalities will have to create new places through building new kindergartens, rehabilitation of existing pre-school institutions, or seek for alternative measures to ensure that all children have access to preschool education; and improve the quality of education with the main focus being on continuous professional development of personnel of preschool institutions,” the statement of UNICEF reads.

By Thea Morrison

Edited by Tamzin Whitewood

Photo source: UNICEF

Related story: New Standards to Be Introduced in Georgian Kindergartens from 2018