First Annual ECE Conference Held By SDSURF

Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Georgia Nodar Papukashvili opened the First Annual ECE Conference organized by the SDSURF under the Innovation, Inclusion, and Quality Project. ECE Conference aimed to present the complex activities that achieved results and the plans for the stakeholders.

The Deputy Minister welcomed the guests, thanked the SDSURF experts for fruitful collaboration, and mentioned the ongoing projects and next steps in the early childhood education sector.

As the Deputy Minister noted, the partnership with the San Diego State University Research Foundation is highly valued, as it supports the significant improvement of Georgia’s early and preschool education system. According to Nodar Papukashvili, the Ministry actively continues to work in various directions so that the ECE education system becomes more adapted to the children’s needs and best interests.

The San Diego State University Research Foundation is carrying out complex work in the early education sector with the support of the World Bank within the framework of the Innovation, Inclusive, and Quality Project (I2Q Project).

At the annual conference, the San Diego State University Research Foundation representatives presented the implemented activities aimed at improving the management system of early and preschool care and education institutions and upgrading the quality of education programs. In addition, Nancy Frey, San Diego Research Foundation professor and the team leader of international experts, reviewed early childhood education from the international perspective.

Within the framework of the conference, International and local experts made presentations on early childhood and preschool data education reporting systems, the development of a merit-based compensation system, prerequisites for creating a successful early childhood education program, and the implementation of quality assurance framework for early childhood education . The conference participants discussed the legal analysis of the early and preschool education sector regulatory documents and relevant recommendations. In addition, the parties discussed the ongoing work in the direction of the professional development of caregivers and caregiver pedagogues and the updated program of school readiness programs.

The Innovation, Inclusion, and Quality Project (I2Q), supported by the World Bank, is an important facilitating mechanism for ongoing reforms in the education system in Georgia and has a significant role in the development of early, general, and higher education.