US funding improves learning environment for Georgian children

About 40,000 children in Georgia will soon learn at modern school environment thanks to the United States (US) government.

The US government has invested $54 million USD (about 129 million GEL) to fully renovate and equip public schools across Georgia.

The first phase of the project will see 30 schools be renovated in central Georgia’s Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Shida Kartli and Samtskhe-Javakheti regions. This phase has already started and it will benefit about 10,000 local students.

In the next four years 70 other schools throughout the country will be included in the multi-million dollar rehabilitation project, which will eventually see 37,000 Georgian children have a better learning environment.

"It is no secret that many schools in Georgia, especially in the regions, could use some help,” the US Embassy in Tbilisi wrote on its official Facebook page.

"That’s why the US government is investing $54 million to renovate schools across Georgia.”

The project is administrated by Millennium Challenge Account-Georgia (MCA - Georgia) and Georgia’s Ministry of Education.

Education Minister Tamar Sanikidze and MCA-Georgia Chief Executive Officer Magda Magradze visited one of the schools to inspect the building renovation process.

Georgia’s Education Minister Tamar Sanikidze visits one of the schools to inspect the building renovation process within the project. Photo: Education Ministry’s Press Office.

"This is a very important project because school infrastructure still remains one of our challenges and any involvement – especially the involvement of such donor – is very fruitful,” Sanikidze said.

The school renovation project is a key component of the US foreign aid agency Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) $140 million (about 335 million GEL) second compact for Georgia.

The MCC, established in 2004, has approved over $10 billion in Compact and threshold programs worldwide that support country-determined projects in a range of sectors including agriculture and irrigation, healthcare, water supply and irrigation, finance and enterprise development, anti-corruption initiatives and access to education.