EU launches nine new projects with EUR 7 million budget to support vocational education and labour market development in Georgia
Wednesday, 9 December 2020, Tbilisi: At a special event held online under the auspices of Skills Week Georgia, the nine grant projects, funded by the EU’s second phase of the Skills4Jobs programme in Georgia, were introduced. These grants have been allocated to private and public sector and civil society organisations to further enhance employment opportunities, particularly in the regions. The nine projects, with a total EU contribution of EUR 7 million (approx. GEL 27 million), will focus on ensuring that relevant skills matching services and education opportunities in vocational education, training and entrepreneurship are available throughout Georgia, particularly for youth, women and vulnerable populations. The Skills4Jobs overall programme has three main targets:
- Relevant skills-matching services are accessible in selected regions of Georgia;
- Relevant lifelong learning skills provision are accessible in selected regions with a focus on youth;
- Entrepreneurial learning and training opportunities are accessible in selected regions.
"We are happy to launch the new grant projects as part of the second phase of the EU’s Skills4Jobs 5-year programme in Georgia. In the context of COVID-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever to support Georgia in its efforts to improve professional skills, enhance entrepreneurship and adapt the labour and employment strategies to the current needs. With the start of these new projects we contribute directly to the improvement of employability of women, men, youth and vulnerable people in Tbilisi and regions of Georgia.”, stated Catalin Gherman, Deputy Head of Cooperation, Delegation of the European Union to Georgia.
“At this time when coronavirus is testing Georgia’s VET system to its limits, and while we are striving to introduce new and innovative approaches in VET governance and practices and increase the attractiveness of vocational education and qualifications, we are being strongly supported as always by the EU, our longest-standing partner in VET. Europe is a source of inspiration and best practice examples in VET, and the EU’s financial and technical support has been invaluable in helping us to modernize our system in line with international standards”, stated Tamar Kitiashvili, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Georgia.
The Skills Week Georgia, an online four-day conference, organized by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Georgia with the support of the EU’s Skills4Jobs Technical Assistance Project, offers a platform to discuss new challenges and solutions for vocational education in the current reality. The conference was opened by Mikheil Chkhenkeli - Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, Sigrid Brettel - Head of Cooperation of the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia, His Excellency Hubert Knirsch - Ambassador of Germany and Ekaterine Mikabadze - Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development. Phase 2 of the EU’s Skills4Jobsprogramme was launched in 2018 to improve the employability of women, men, young people and vulnerable people in Tbilisi and regions of Georgia. The programme is implemented through a range of different measures. The total budget of the programme is EUR 48,85 million (approx. GEL 190 million) and includes:
- a EUR 30 million budget support to the Government of Georgia for implementing sector reform,
- two Twinning projects which bring the EU Member States’ civil servants to Georgia to help introduce reforms,
- grant scheme component for EUR 7 million, and
- technical assistance to support the relevant ministries. This component is assisting the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs, Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, the Youth Agency and other public agencies in updating and improving their sector reform policies.
For further information please contact:
- Tatia Khubulava, TA for Skills4Georgia – communication expert of the project tkhubulava@gmail.com
Annex: Skills4Jobs 2 Phase grant projects
- Project: Skills for Success
Lead Applicant: Save the Children
Co-Applicant 1: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V.
Co-applicant 2: LEPL Youth Agency
Co-applicant 3: Youth Workers' Association of Georgia
Contact Info: Tamta Golubiani, Tamta.golubiani@savethechildren.org
Description: The overall objective of the project is to contribute to fostering employability of disadvantaged youth Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETs) by supporting state efforts on youth employability in Tbilisi, Kahketi, Shida Kartli, Guria and Racha-lechkhumi regions of Georgia.
- Project: Skills for employment and cooperation - tailoring opportunities for the regions of Georgia (SECTORs)
Lead Applicant: Guria Youth Resource Centre
Co-Applicant 1: Institute of Democracy (IoD, NGO)
Co-applicant 2: NGO Atinati
Co-applicant 3: Georgia Farmers’ Association
Contact Info: Tamar Ghlonti, gyrc.info@gmail.com
Description: The project aims to implement demand-driven learning, skills development and capacity building programs for project target disadvantaged groups, local businesses and training providers; to create employment opportunities for target group members in local economic sector by strengthening existing businesses and supporting the establishing new enterprises and to sandartize skills and best practices by strengthening business clusters created within the project and introduce innovative approaches.
- Project: Laboratory H&S LLL Courses for Youth in Western & Eastern Georgia (CoLLLab)
Lead Applicant: Tbilisi State University
Co-Applicant 1: Georgian Biotechnology association (GeBa)
Co-applicant 2: NCDC (LEPL)
Co-applicant 3: State laboratory of Agriculture (LEPL)
Contact Info: Nino Inasaridze, nino.inasaridze@tsu.ge
Description: The project aims to support young professionals’ health and safety laboratory skills development by introducing the market oriented and demand driven lifelong learning courses on laboratory health and safety and contribute to human capacity building of key stakeholders involved in the sector by developing and implementing the training of trainers’ programme (ToT) to ensure sustainability and continuality of the non-formal education in the area of Laboratory Health and Safety.
- Project: Local Investments in Networks for Knowledge and Skill-share (LINKS)
Lead Applicant: UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA (NGO)
Co-Applicant 1: Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF)
Contact Info: Teona Lebanidze, teona@una.ge
Description: The project objectives are demonstrable, evidence-based improvement in the quality of skills matching, skills development and employment services that leads to quantifiably increased TVET enrolment and graduation and improved employment trends in four target locations.
- Project: Learn, Exercise, Achieve, Receive, Network for Employment!
(LEARN for Employment!)
Lead Applicant: Education Development and Employment Centre (EDEC)
Co-Applicant 1: NGO Telavi Education Development and Employment Center
Co-applicant 2: Employment Agency of Autonomous Republic of Adjara (LEPL)
Contact Info: Lika Kiladze, lika_kiladze@edec.ge
Description: The project aims to contribute to continuous/ life-long career guidance and employment service development and to contribute to increased Public-Private Partnership (PPP) through labour market needs assessments, demand-driven education, work-based learning and apprenticeships in the maritime and tourism sectors.
- Project: Skill Building and Innovative Job Opportunities for Regional Development
Lead Applicant: CENTER FOR STRATEGIC RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT of GEORGIA (CSRDG)
Co-Applicant 1: GEORGIAN CIVIL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION
Co-applicant 2: YOUNG PEDAGOGUES' UNION
Contact Info: Nino Gurgenidze, ngurgenidze@csrdg.ge
Eka Datuashvili, edatuashvili@csrdg.ge
Description: The overall objective of the action is to develop and maintain local human capital in order to promote social and economic empowerment in Guria, Kakheti and Kvemo Kartli regions.
- Project: Creating Better LLL Opportunities through Local Partnerships
Lead Applicant: UNDP
Co-Applicant 1: Youth Centre Sunny House
Contact Info: George Nanobashvili, george.nanobashvili@undp.org
Description: The overall objective is strengthening employability for men and women in capital and rural areas through increased access to high quality services; the project aims at: i) Strengthening institutions to contribute to delivery of high-quality lifelong learning provision in selected regions, Guria, Racha-Lechkhumi, Imereti, Kakheti, Tbilisi and Ajara; and ii) providing access to youth and selected vulnerable groups to the flexible services of formal and non-formal learning in targeted regions.
- Project: Development of Youth Coding and Tech. Entrepreneurial Club Networks
Lead Applicant: Ilia State University (ISU)
Co-Applicant 1: Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA)
Co-applicant 2: ICT Cluster
Co-applicant 3: Innovative Education Foundation (IEF)
Contact Info: Nana Dikhaminjia, nana.dikhaminjia@iliauni.edu.ge
Ketevan Darakhvelidze, ketevan.darakhvelidze@iliauni.edu.ge
Description: The overall objective is to significantly improve IT career path, tech entrepreneurship and employment opportunities for regional youth in Georgia. The intervention aims at creating School and VET institutions-based Coding and Tech Entrepreneurship clubs in 100 locations across eight target regions of Georgia. As a result of the action, new sectoral partnerships will emerge, online space for matching the clubs with the interested mentors, as well as with IT and Tech Companies will be established, and about 2000 young people, mainly high-school and VET students, but also youth in NEET, shall acquire basic programming and tech entrepreneurship skills. A special web-platform will be developed for this purpose. One of the outcomes of the project will be improved IT career path, tech entrepreneurship and employment opportunities for regional youth in Georgia.
- Project: Employment, Support, Counselling to Meet Labour Market Needs
(ESCape)
Lead Applicant: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V. (FES)
Co-Applicant 1: Education Development and Employment Centre (EDEC)
Co-applicant 2: State Employment Support Agency (SESA)
Co-applicant 3: Democracy & Civil. Society Development Youth (DDA
Contact Info: Mariam Iobidze, mariam@fesgeo.ge
Felix Hett, felix.hett@fesgeo.ge
Description: The overall objective of the action is to foster the employability and employment of people in Tbilisi, Adjara, Imereti, Kakheti, Kvemo-Kartli, Samegrelo and Shida-Kartli. Through increased institutional capacities of the SESA and the implementation of a promising model of intensive coaching and key-competences training for “hard to employ” individuals, the project will significantly advance the accessibility and quality of services provision in 1) Skills anticipation and matching and 2) Skills development. International partnerships will allow sharing best practices of the EU Member States.
