Vocational Education – Deadlock or Opportunity?

Three professional colleges are taking part in a pilot initiative which aims to introduce the general school education curricula into vocational training, breaking the “education deadlock” associated with vocational colleges and creating higher education opportunities for vocational students.

Up to 20 students of Kachreti Public College (Kakheti region), Shota Meskhia Teaching University (Samegrelo region) and Ilia Tsinamdzghvrishvili Public College (Mtskheta-Mtianeti region) will receive vocational qualifications as well as an opportunity to continue their studies in universities.

The pilot project was initiated by the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) under their larger programme to assist professional education reform in Georgia.

The intermediate results were presented to the public on December 28, 2017, at the open discussion attended by representatives of the Georgian Government, Parliament, educational institutions, civil society and international organizations.

Mikheil Chkhenkeli, Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, and Niels Scott, Head of UNDP in Georgia, opened the event with welcome remarks.

Mariam Jashi, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Education, Science and Culture; Tamar Sanikidze, Director of the National Centre for Educational Quality Enhancement; and Beka Tagauri of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), addressed the participants.

Piloting of general school education in vocational training will continue till spring 2018. In the future, the same model will be introduced to all vocational colleges in Georgia.