Li R. - OECD Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in Education: Georgia

This review was funded by UNICEF and developed in close co-operation with UNICEFs Regional Office for Europa and Central Asia whose staff provided valuable guidance and support. In particular, the review team would like to thank Parmosivea Soobrayan, Regional Education Advisor for Europe and Central Asia region, for his co-operation and commitment to the partnership between the OECD and UNICEF. The review team would like to convey our sincere appreciation to the UNICEF Georgia Country Office, led by Ghassan Khalil, Representative and Gottfried Hanne, Deputy Representative. We would also like to thank the UNICEF Georgia education team, notably Maya Kuparadze, Education Officer, and Nani Zeinklishvili, Programme Associate for their guidance, support and insights.

The review team would further like to thank the Government of Georgia, under the leadership of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport (MoESCS) for their support and contributions to the review. The review has strongly benefited from the encouragement and support of the Deputy Minister Irina Abuladze who also chaired the Steering Committee.

We are also very grateful to the officials and education experts from the MoESCS and beyond, who graciously shared their insights and knowledge with us, in particular the members of the Steering Committee, including Kakha Khandolishvili, Head of International Relations Department of the MoESCS, Natia Gabitashvili, Head of European Integration and Relations with International Organizations of the MoESCS (Secretary of the Steering Committee), Nodar Razmadze, Head of Strategic Development Department of the MESCS, Sopho Gorgodze, Director of National Assessment and Examination Center, George Vashakidze, Director of National Center for Education Quality Enhancement, and Dimitry Beridze, Head of Education Management Information System.

We sincerely thank all the participants in the review visits, including officials from the MoESCS and its agencies National Assessment and Examinations Centre (NAEC), Teacher Professional Development Centre (TPDC), National Centre for Education Quality Enhancement (NCEQE) and Education Management Information System (EMIS). We would also like to extend our gratitude to other national bodies, such as the Ilia State University, to civil society organisations, such as the Centre for Civil Integration and Inter-Ethnic Relations (CCIIR), as well as to international bodies including the World Bank, Millennium Challenge Corporation, USAID, the European Union Delegation and the Asian Development Bank. We are grateful to the researchers, non-governmental organisations, school leaders, teachers, teacher unions, parents and students, that kindly gave their time to share their views, experience and knowledge with us. We would especially like to thank the schools in Tbilisi and Kvemo Kartli municipalities for welcoming us so warmly during our review visits.