Tbilisi: In order to support the career advancement of teachers, the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia continues the review process of the teacher’s professional development system, which means refining and improving the teacher professional development scheme with maximum involvement of teachers.
To this end, important changes and updates have been made in the scheme of teacher’s professional development and career advancement by the Ministry of Education.
According to these changes, different conditions for granting teacher status were defined in the scheme. In particular:
Leader/mentor status will be granted based on the results of the skill exam and portfolio evaluation.
A senior, who has exceeded the limit to get the status of mentor in the skills test, is allowed to present a portfolio evaluation either on leadership or mentoring.
Doctorate degrees with senior status at least 7 credit approved subjects, or PhD in a subject/subject group under the National Curriculum are exempt from the SKT exam and will be evaluated only on the basis of portfolio.
The news was about Azerbaijani and Armenian language teachers. The changes will include a variety of issues—teachers who have confirmed cognitive competence on 10 credits, receiving senior teacher status, teachers retained practitioner status through the 2025-2026 school year, and more.
Important news for special teacher career advancement. In particular, according to the changes:
-Mentor status has been added to the list of special teacher statuses;
-The ways of getting the status of a leader and mentor have changed – the status is possible to obtain the status of a special teacher on the basis of passing the professional skills exam and evaluation of the portfolio;
-The exam for the status of a leader will be held in 2023, and the exam for a mentor will start in 2024.
-Specialized teachers who work with students with intellectual and learning disorders, multiple disorders, sensory disorders, will take a special certification course.
