The FINANCIAL — Elementary school teachers, school administrators and educators from 100 schools in Georgia will be trained in distance teaching and learning as part of an partnership between the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Georgia, the Government of Estonia and UNICEF Georgia.
The programme aims to improve the quality of education for children of Georgia and will organize distance and on-site training, peer-training and coaching for educators on the quality of teaching and learning.
The project was launched at the Tbilisi public school #186 and the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Georgia, Ms. Ekaterine Dgebuadze, the Ambassador of Estonia, H.E. Riina Kaljurand, and UNICEF Representative in Georgia, Dr. Ghassan Khalil had a discussion with school administration and teachers involved into the project.
“Today we had a presentation of a very important project which will further enhance the skills and knowledge of those working in the education sector. With support from the Estonian Government and in partnership UNICEF we have already implemented a number of important projects,” said the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Georgia, Ms. Ekaterine Dgebuadze. “I would like to focus on the protection of the right to education for children, as it is our duty to ensure that every student has equal access to the novelties of the education field and to quality, continued education. This project aims to do just that and will enable us to create supportive learning environment for them and to support them with information and skills needed for self-realization in this technologically ever-changing developed world.”
“We are very happy that our fruitful cooperation between the Government of Estonia, Government of Georgia and UNICEF is continuing. Estonia has been successfully modernizing its own educational system for the last 15-20 years and we are glad that our experience is relevant in Georgia and that we can contribute to improving the quality of education for children of Georgia through supporting professional development and capacity building of Georgian educators“, said H.E. Riina Kaljurand, the Ambassador of Estonia to Georgia.
“School closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in unprecedented disruption to children’s education”, said Dr. Ghassan Khalil, UNICEF Representative in Georgia. “UNICEF continues to support teachers and children in obtaining skills and resources for distance learning as this is the primary mode of education for many children nowadays. UNICEF and the Government of Estonia have demonstrated a great power of working together and in partnership with the Government of Georgia will continue to achieve better education outcomes for children”.
The programme will cover 100 public schools throughout Georgia, including remote and mountainous areas, and will be focused on sharing the Estonian experience in distance teaching to contribute to the professional development of the educators. Elementary school teachers will be trained in competency-based teaching and learning methodology. Administrations of these schools, and representatives of local Education Resource Centers, will be trained in educational environments and school management. The participant schools will be trained in the possibilities to create and maintain networks via different platforms to support dissemination and exchange of knowledge, practice and cooperation ideas.
The programme starts in 2020 and will last for 2 years. The project is financed by the Government of Estonia.
The partnership initiated in 2014 between UNICEF, the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, and the Government of Estonia aims to build a highly skilled national teaching workforce, as well as to improve the quality of learning for children. The main components of the partnership included the revision and improvement of the National Curriculum, the introduction of Estonian teaching and learning methods in schools of Georgia, and the establishment of university training courses for Georgian educators.
