Foreword

Georgia has made remarkable progress in expanding access to education and improving outcomes. However, the majority of children in Georgia still leave school without having acquired the basic competencies they need to compete in the 21st century economy. Furthermore, students from rural areas, national minority backgrounds and socio-economically disadvantaged contexts are at greater risk of being left behind compared to their peers. Therefore, education in Georgia needs strategic and targeted reforms so that all children in Georgia can learn and thrive.

This review was undertaken in partnership by the OECD and UNICEF at the request of, and in close collaboration with, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia.

Focused on the country’s educational assessment and evaluation systems, this review offers suggestions that leverage several of the promising policies that have been enacted by the Government. At the centre of these proposals is orienting all evaluation and assessment practices to focus on student learning. This means that any recommendations with respect to how students are assessed, teachers are appraised, schools are evaluated or the system is evaluated are done with the ultimate aim of helping students learn.

The review builds on the collaboration between the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills with UNICEF’s Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia and UNICEF’s Country Office in Georgia. It has benefited from our organisations’ complementary experience and expertise to provide an analysis that is grounded in the context of evaluation and assessment in Georgia’s education system while drawing on international research and best practice from around the world.

Above all though, we hope that this review will be a useful reference for Georgia as it reforms its educational evaluation and assessment systems. This review discusses many of the policy options that the country is considering, from developing a new examinations system to introducing comprehensive school evaluations. The review also provides guidance that can be used to inform decision-making. We hope that the review’s recommendations contribute to the further development of an education system that provides excellence for all.

 

Andreas Schleicher

Director for Education and Skills and Special Advisor on Education Policy to the Secretary-General

 

Ghassan Khalil

UNICEF Representative to Georgia