MCC Education Policy Activity

Georgia II - Vocational Education Project - Education Policy Activity: At the start of the compact, Georgia's TVET policies were in the process of being elaborated, in collaboration with the European Union and other donors.

No system was in place to track TVET best practices or disseminate them, nor was there a viable pathway to engage industries in TVET trainings or employ graduates. Engaging industries allows for TVET programs to align with labor market demands.

To strengthen TVET policies and practices, technical assistance was provided to the Ministry of Education and Science's TVET Department.

The topics covered by the technical assistance were annually agreed upon with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport.

Assistance included extensive support on industry engagement, quality assurance, and career guidance policy development...To promote good practices and pilot meaningful engagement with industry, MCA-Georgia launched a second, smaller competitive grant facility for TVET providers to strengthen, document, and disseminate existing or recognized good practices in vocational education.

MCA-Georgia awarded about $400,000 in "best practices" grants to 27 TVET providers.

Though a match was not required, small grant recipients collectively contributed 18 percent of the grant totals in co-financing...MCA-Georgia also held annual TVET conferences in 2016, 2017, and 2018 to showcase and promote TVET best practices and recognize industry leaders, with significant co-funding from private sector in the case of the second and third conferences.

The conference served as a forum for dialogue and information sharing among TVET stakeholders, and the dissemination of best practices.

The conferences were seen by stakeholders to contribute to improving perceptions of TVET in Georgia, and Millennium Foundation held the annual TVET conference in July 2020. Continuing these conferences in the future will depend on funding and organizational support.