Georgia

The Georgian Adult Education Network (GAEN), a member of EAEA, has described the adult learning and education situation to have slightly improved in Georgia in 2020/2021. There have been no major changes linked with policies or funding in the ALE in Georgia.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many activities were transferred to online platforms and some of the centres were able to continue providing education, adapting to the government measures.

Adult education in Georgia is a part of vocational education, however, there are short-term training and retraining programs available. These short-time activities focus on practical skills and competences and are adapted to the needs of the labour market. Many students are already using these programs to receive state-issued certificates.

There is no specific law dedicated to adult education in Georgia, and at the moment ALE is regulated by the Resolution of the Government of Georgia on "Vocational training program and vocational training program implementation”. This resolution should create mechanisms for the recognition of non-formal and informal learning and support the development of adult education. Civil society remains largely excluded from policy-making initiatives.

GAEN has a goal to obtain state permission in 2022 to issue a state certificate upon the completion of various training programs. They will work on awareness-raising in the field of community education and promote the concept of lifelong learning.

GAEN views social and environmental sustainability as a very important topic. They have a plan which includes sustainability within their organisational work procedures and learning programmes, although in general SDGs have not been implemented in the Georgian ALE sector.

GAEN is advocating for institutional reforms in the field of adult education and raises awareness and promotes access to adult education.