June 26, 2023
News
Caritas Czech Republic has been supporting the Government of Georgia in the improvement of health and social services for years. With our efforts, the lives of thousands of children and their families have significantly improved in Georgia. With the financial support of the Czech Development Agency, now we are starting a new project aiming at improving early childhood care and inclusive education for children with special needs in Georgia.
Opening of the project in Tbilisi
The project aims to improve the national policy in the field of early childhood care, prepare new specialists and increase the qualifications of service providers, and introduce early childhood development services and inclusive preschool education strategies in selected municipalities.
On June 21, 2023, Caritas Czech Republic organized a first meeting of the early childhood care working group established through the project to present the goals and objectives of the project and to involve the members of the working group in an active work process that will help the Ministry of IDPs from Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia, other governmental and non-governmental structures, and stakeholders to define the policy of early care for children with special needs.
Ekaterine Meskhrikadze, Deputy Country Director of Caritas Czech Republic delivered the opening speech at the event and stressed that Caritas Czech Republic’s goal is to promote the improvement of early childhood care and inclusive education in the country, as there are huge challenges in this direction, meaning all children with special needs do not have equal access to services due to the lack of professionals and therefore the lack of services:
“Within the framework of the project, our goal is to create equal access to high-quality early intervention services for children with special needs which will be defined by the respective national social policy. It means that service delivery mechanisms, professional practices and human resources in early care will be regulated by the state.”
As the project manager, Rusudan Chkhubianishvili said, the activities planned through the project are extremely necessary and timely, since the foundation is laid on the cooperation between multidisciplinary sectors, which means that all the agencies and professionals who until now have been independently serving the issue of caring early age children with special needs are united through the project:
"With joint efforts and coordination, they will bring more benefits to families, improve children's access to quality services and create a favorable environment for the full development of children in the very place where the child of early age needs the most help – in the family, in the early intervention center, or in the kindergarten."
Activities planned within the project
The group of experts formed within the framework of the project will work together with the representatives of the Government of Georgia on the analysis of the existing policies of early childhood care and inclusive education and will formulate recommendations for policy improvement. In addition, a professional educational program will be adapted in early childhood development, which will be submitted to the National Center for Education Quality Enhancement to receive an accreditation.
As part of the educational activities planned within the framework of the project, early childhood development specialists will be prepared to work at service provider centers in selected municipalities. Some of them will undergo individual assistant training to work at kindergartens and support children with special educational and developmental needs.
Eventually, five new service centers will be established and subsequently equipped in the selected target municipalities. A study visit to the Czech Republic will be organized for early childhood development service providers and kindergarten teachers.
The initiative is implemented with the financial support of the Czech Development Agency and in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health of Georgia. The project is closely partnering and coordinating with UNICEF.
This material was prepared in the scope of the project financed within the Official Development Assistance of the Czech Republic and implemented through the partnership between the Czech Development Agency and Caritas Czech Republic.
