Early Education Experts Visited Akhalkalaki Municipality

With the World Bank’s support, the San Diego State University Research Foundation with the International Education Center is working on improving early childhood education in Georgia under the I2Q Project. SDSURF is achieving the following tasks: Development of a quality assurance framework; ECE Data Reporting – developing mechanisms for collecting and analyzing data related to ECE education and integrating it with the education management information system; Salary Scale – developing an updated salary policy for ECE education, and Teacher Training and School Readiness Program (SRP) – teachers and promoting professional development and updating the existing school readiness program. The ongoing ECE reform shall go through a pilot in six municipalities of Georgia, and Akhalkakaki is one of them.

On October 18, 2023, the I2Q Project Early Childhood Education component lead visited Akhalkalaki Municipality with experts from the International Education Center. They conducted the meetings with the Mayor, Mr. Melkon Makarian, the Head of Kindergarten Unity, Ms. Anaida Asaturian, the head of the Culture, Education, Sports, Heritage Preservation, Youth and Tourism Development Department, Ms. Oliko Melikidze, and with Municipality Kindergarten caregivers.

Tamar Chkonia, the I2Q Project ECE component lead, familiarized the municipality representatives with implemented, ongoing works and the next steps for improving the education management system and quality of early childhood education throughout the country.
The visit also aimed to learn the local context, existing challenges, and requirements in local kindergartens. In Akhalkalaki, the experts visited #1 Kindergarten, got acquainted with the educational process and the infrastructure, and spoke to the personnel.

As Akhalkalaki Mayer and Mr. Melkon Makarian mentioned, the ongoing works under the I2Q Project early childhood education component are in line with the existing challenges in Akhalkalaki Municipality, such as strengthening the professional development system for ECE professionals, implementing modern methodologies, adapting curricula to the needs of children and implementing play-based practices.

Representatives of the local government expressed their full readiness to support the ongoing work within the framework of the I2Q project.