Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia to assist schools in conducting distance education properly
Due to Coronavirus-related preventive measures and due to the current suspension of the learning process, a decision has been made by the Interagency Coordination Council headed by the Prime Minister, that the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Georgia offer the public school administration, teachers and students a technical assistance.
Technology experts involved in the implementation of distance learning and representatives of the LEPL Education Management Information System (EMIS) will help teachers develop and implement technology tools to support the smooth learning process.
As part of the project, public schools have already been sent detailed video guides and textbooks on distance learning products and tools. Additionally, the support system will be fully operational from March 19. Teachers will be able to submit questions online and receive advice on specific issues. Public schools that seek assistance, should aim for individuals who are well-versed in technology and are able to provide consulting remotely.
If a school-identified person (school staff / high school students) fails to provide comprehensive advice on a number of issues, volunteers across the region will be mobilized (New School Model Technology Experts for the General Education Reform Project) to give consultations on Microsoft Office 365-related products. These volunteers themselves will create a virtual consulting space on Microsoft TEAMS, which will be shared with schools through the end of the day. Through this link, school-based individuals (school staff / high school students) will be able to access consulting services.
More than 600,000 students and 55,000 teachers have special profiles already activated, and with the support of the ministry, they will be able to take full advantage of the offered online tools - Microsoft office 365, which integrates Microsoft TEAMS, OneNote and much more. In addition, work is under way to create virtual classrooms on Microsoft TEAMS for all classes of Georgian public schools. These classrooms will be mirrored in the system step by step, once the data is synced to Microsoft's cloud system.
As a result, the participating schools will successfully use the offered distance learning tools and acquire the skills to use these digital tools for educational purposes.
It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia is actively working on various alternative forms of distance learning, including the project TV-school, distance training for teachers, diversification of electronic resources and many more.
