Education and the important role of vocational education and training (VET) are national priorities in Georgia, meaning the Torino Process has been taken ‘very seriously’ since its launch in 2010.

‘It’s an instrument for seeing where we are and comparing ourselves to partner countries,’ says Torino Process Coordinator Marika Zakareishvili.

Working collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders has seen good progress made towards evaluating the effectiveness of VET.

One recent study, for example, highlights the importance of new modular VET courses that include core skills of entrepreneurship, communication, numeracy and literacy. A separate research project on VET by the National Council of Social Partnership has also taken place.

‘The Torino Process had brought ‘quality, encouragement and priorities’ to the analysis of Georgia’s VET system, says Marika who is part of the VET development team in the ministry of education.

‘When you are analysing data you can see what you are missing – it points to where quality is and where it is needed.’

‘We’ve seen progress in National Qualification Framework and the modular programmes. That encourages us to go further and enables us to set priorities for the future.’

‘The Torino Process helps us be more effective in the implementation of the VET system in practice, to bring quality to the foreground.’

An example of good practice in Georgia, that can be shared with other countries, is the in-depth follow-up analysis done on challenges identified during the Torino Process,’ she adds.

‘Our study on needed skills – core skills – brought up a lot more information that we looked into more deeply. This is something that could usefully be shared.’

ETF partner countries will be sharing many best practices at the Torino Process international conference ‘Changing Skills for a Changing World’ on June 7-8, in Turin.