Rehabilitation of the historic building of Georgia's first vocational college begins – the Ilia Tsinamdzgvrishvili College is regaining its former life
The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia, in cooperation with the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia, is launching the rehabilitation of a cultural heritage monument dating back to 1877 – the vocational college located in Tsinamdzgvriantkari. The building will be restored to its original appearance and will house conference and museum halls, while museum spaces and technological laboratories will be arranged in the ancient marani (wine cellar) located on the ground floor.
Tamar Kitiashvili, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia, together with Shalva Kereselidze, State Representative in Mtskheta-Mtianeti, visited the Ilia Tsinamdzgvrishvili College, inspected the historical monument, and reviewed the planned rehabilitation project.
In 1883, in cooperation with the Society for the Spreading of Literacy among Georgians, Ilia Tsinamdzgvrishvili founded the first agricultural educational institution in the Georgian language on his own estate, where students gathered from all over Georgia. From the day of its foundation, the technical school began teaching such disciplines as horticulture, viticulture, forestry, sericulture, winemaking, and beekeeping. Teaching at the technical school included both theoretical and practical components, and it is considered the first center of vocational education in Georgia and one of the oldest in Europe.
Operating on the site of Georgia's first vocational school, the Ilia Tsinamdzgvrishvili College will develop those vocational programs that were once implemented on the basis of the technical school. Currently, the college has announced student admission for 17 vocational programs, 13 of which are agricultural programs. Out of these programs, 5 are dual, providing students with the opportunity to acquire teaching and practical work experience in a real work environment alongside theoretical studies.
