Estonian experts to assist Georgia in assessing educational quality

  • 2019-04-15
  • BNS/TBT Staff

TALLINN - The Estonian Quality Agency for Higher and Vocational Education (EKKA) of the Archimedes Foundation and the German Academic Exchange Service are to work jointly in updating the external evaluation processes in higher, vocational and general education as well as refresher training in Georgia.

The project financed by the European Union in the amount of 1.5 million euros is to run for two years, the activities of the project will start this fall. 

Director of EKKA Heli Mattisen said that the project includes developing a set of methods for implementing thematic evaluation of the area of education in Georgia, in accordance with which the first evaluations will be conducted with the partners as part of the project.

"Developing the terms of reference for a digital professional register will be one specific task, in which we will be assisted by the Estonian Qualifications Authority. Related training for agency employees, representatives of education institutions as well as stakeholders in education will be held in parallel with that," Mattisen said.

She added that the project allows for experts to test their skills in a multinational environment as well as develop their abilities relating to teamwork, management and intercultural communication.

During its 10 years of existence, EKKA's coordinated action has been aimed at gaining international recognition, the director of EKKA said.

"Thus, we did not need to take initiative ourselves this time. The Germans came to us with a proposal for cooperation and we already have good cooperation relations with the Georgian quality agency," she noted. 

The broader goal of the project is to develop Georgia's system for evaluating educational quality, support the implementation of the qualifications network and improve the capability of the specialists and support systems in the field. 

The leading partner in the project is the German Academic Exchange Service. Mattisen is the leader of the project from Estonia's side. A total of 40 experts from Estonia and Germany will be involved in the project.