The Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia, Mikheil Chkhenkeli presented an anti-crisis plan, aimed at discussing all levels of education, to better confront the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the presentation, the Minister spoke about the implemented projects and upcoming plans foreseen by the Ministry in the field of vocational education.

Mikheil Chkhenkeli: “I would like to emphasize, that we will pay special attention to the training programs that focus on the employment. This way, students will be prepared swiftly for the jobs that will emerge on the employment market.“

Based on the recommendation of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia, the administration of vocational institutions have immediately switched to a partially remote working mode. One part of the training programs: IT, programming languages, accounting, hotel marketing & sales, has already switched to a distance learning format.

Additionally, all vocational college administrations are remotely preparing for the fall admissions, in conjunction with developing curricula, and registering for the online authorization through a mechanism specially developed by the National Center for Quality Development.

The admission process to long-term programs will start on May 20, whereas the course will start on October 12. To maximize the access to vocational education, the Ministry will ensure that the enrollment rules are changed to include young people and vulnerable groups. It is planned to offer up to 8,700 places.

At present, 137 programs and 2,500 places are currently authorized for the short-term training program.

The ministry has also set up 17 vocational networks, online platforms, where teachers from one profession have been merged (e.g., the agricultural network, the tourism network, the construction network, etc.). The pilot mode will start on June 1.