Gov’t launches reform of vocational education in Georgia

The Georgian Education Ministry has announced plans regarding reforms in the vocational education field.

The major changes planned are as follows:

• Youth with a diploma attesting to a basic education [completing only nine grades at schools instead of 12] will be able to study school subjects in parallel with receiving a  vocational education.
• Consequently, the certificate they will receive after finishing their vocational studies will be equal to a general education diploma.
• Those having a general education diploma will be able to study in higher vocational programmes which will involve the participation of employers.
• The involvement of employers in the implementation of the vocational programmes will increase.
• Exchange programmes will be offered and international certification programmes will be established.
• Entrepreneurial education and studies of innovative technologies will be particularly encouraged.
• The reform will be launched in a pilot regime from March 2019 and gradually cover the capital and the regions.

We have up to 40,000 students who failed to pass the school certification exams. We should show them the right way and help them receive education,” Georgian Education Minister Mikheil Batiashvili says.

He stated that the short-term retraining courses will give chances to many Georgian citizens without jobs receive certain knowledge and be employed.

“The short-term re-training programs will be launched from March this year and hundreds of our citizens will be able to be registered and then re-trained,” Batiashvili said.