Vocational education and the private sector strengthen their partnership

Within the borders of  “Vocational Education for Economic Development" project, organized by the Millenium Challenge Account (MCA) Georgia, the winners of competition in terms of implementing the best practices in the vocational education industry were announced. Within the first phase, seven projects were funded, which amounted to a total of 70,000 US dollars. The whole project is funded by the US Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact (grant) program.

The grant competition was announced on  December 4, 2015 and its aim is to educate the vocational industry; to implement vocational educacation programs, and to support the participation of employers to implement best practices in the labor market. Various private and public educational institutions, NGOs and private companies participated in the competition.

From the overall funded projects, three will be executed in the regions of Georgia including; Kutaisi, Rustavi and Kachreti, whereas the rest of the projects are planned to be implemented in Tbilisi. The second phase of the grant competition will be announced towards the end of 2016. Additionally, the total budget of the competition is composed of $ 250, 000. Moreover, the competition aims at strengthening Georgian educational institutions, further enhancing teachers qualification, and  introducing innovative teaching methods in conjunction with promoting work-based learning.

The first phase winners of the competition are:  Georgian Business Acadmy – SBA ;  Vocational  college "Icarus"; Center – (LEPL) Community College "IC"; Public Entity - Georgian Technical University; Kutaisi public school # 33; Ltd “Mindstream” and Georgian Emloyers Association.