Microsoft VP praises Georgian education ministry's "tremendous resilience" in COVID-19 response

Microsoft Vice-President of Education Anthony Salcito. Photo via Microsoft.

Agenda.ge, 06 May 2020 - 18:20, Tbilisi,Georgia

Georgian education ministry's response to the coronavirus outbreak has been praised by Anthony Salcito, Vice-President of Education at Microsoft Corporation, as an example of "tremendous resilience" in adapting to the pandemic.

Salcito was speaking in connection to the participation of Mikheil Chkhenkeli, the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia, in the inaugural Virtual Education Transformation Summit hosted by the company on Tuesday.

The Georgian official spoke to education professionals taking part in the summit about challenges and solutions involving his ministry in the realm of the outbreak.

OECD has recognized Georgia as a leader in [COVID-19 adaptation] and we wanted to provide an opportunity for other decision makers around the world to hear more from Georgia about their approach."

 

We are proud to have Minister Chkhenkeli join the inaugural Virtual Education Transformation Summit, and to share his experience with more than 300 education leaders," Salcito said.

Minister Chkhenkeli (top right) shared the experience of his ministry to hundreds of education professionals and officials during the Microsoft summit. Photo via Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia.

At the summit Chkhenkeli spoke about the Georgian education system's transformation from physical to remote forms of learning while maintaining an uninterrupted process of teaching.

The online teaching system in Georgian primary schools involved software tools provided by Microsoft, while the ministry also launched a "TV School" programme enabling young students to receive classes via the media form. The minister also revealed a decision to continue the popular programme after the pandemic.

An upcoming implementation of the Minecraft Education Edition software suite at 150 Georgian schools for a pilot programme was also announced by Chkhenkeli at the summit, where officials and education professionals from the UNESCO, OECD and national education sectors took part.

The event aimed to "explore the impact of large-scale adoption of remote learning" and "identify strategies to drive deeper transformation of mainstream schooling".