CPDSEC

Community Colleges for International Development, Inc. (CCID)

Partnership with the Ministry of Education & Science – 2006-2010

Introduction

Community Colleges for International Development, Inc. (CCID) has worked with the Ministry to design and implement higher professional education and vocational education programs in Georgia. These initiatives have received funding from USAID, UNDP, NATO, the American Embassy, as well as private foundations. Results of this work are listed below. Big technical support for teacher retraining, curriculum and textbook development, assessment and monitoring, and electronic network development has also come from the Technical University of Georgia’s U.S. partner, Iowa State University, as well as experts from several American and Canadian community colleges. As in the U.S., the colleges and VET programs in Georgia are closely linked to the workforce needs of Georgian businesses in each region. 

Some Results of CCID’s Work in Georgia

CCID and its main partners, the Georgian Ministry of Education & Science and the Center for Professional Development at the Technical University of Georgia, have jointly created the following workforce development outcomes with the assistance of experts from CCID partner colleges in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, California, and British Columbia, and California: 

• 300+ students currently enrolled in these 4 business administration specialties in Gori: small and medium enterprise, construction,  hotel/hospitality and agricultural business;
• development of 81 syllabi for higher professional education program (HPE) and VET, according to international standards which have been accredited by the Ministry of Education and Science (MES);
• 100+ students currently enrolled in 10 Gori vocational education (VET) courses created for agricultural and construction professions;
• 64 textbooks for these HPE and vocational education courses written by Georgian experts drawing on U.S. curricula;
• 115 new HPE and VET jobs created in Gori after hiring and training new teachers in modern pedagogical approaches;
• training in active learning and assessment for 1200+ additional HPE and university teachers in Rustavi, Batumi, Tsnori, Akalkalaki, Zugdidi, and Tbilisi;
• the first Georgian higher professional education program Career Center operating in Gori;
• 4 business advisory committees at work connecting on-campus instruction with the world of work;
• A sustainable and self-supporting program of internship/practice programs will enable HPE students to get jobs in their chosen fields after the first group graduates in 2011;
• Gori’s higher professional education program curricula and textbooks disseminated to similar programs in Alkakalaki, Batumi, Tsnori, and Zugdidi;
• career development programs piloted by Gori HPE teachers in Shida Kartli high schools;
• new methodologies for assessing student learning and monitoring educational results operating for the Gori program;
• retraining courses offered by Gori program teachers for 42 IDPs from S. Ossetia;
• Gori’s college website includes a pilot database of Gori businesses;
• NATO college centers established in 5 regions of Georgia for video conferences, distance  education, and support of professional education;
• video studios at other regional colleges begin creating videos to support the teaching process in all levels of professional education; and
• Gori program’s students and teachers use a modern library of student textbooks and continuing education materials for teachers focus on innovative teaching and learning methodologies;

Support for CCID’s Workforce Education Model in Georgia

Students are admitted to one of the four HPE specialties in Gori after successful completion of the national university entrance exam. Financial support for CCID’s teacher training, curriculum development, textbook writing, and development of the NATO network, etc. has come from the following main grant sources:

• A three-year grant to Eastern Iowa Community College (Iowa) for CCID’s start-up work from USAID-DC’s Higher Education for Development program (HED);
• An unsolicited grant to CCID by USAID-Georgia’s Economic Growth section (through IESC’s SME program);
• A four-year grant by the Canadian International Development Agency to CCID member Selkirk College (British Columbia);
• Two-year grants from the Engineering Information Foundation and NATO’s Network Infrastructure Program to produce electronic curriculum materials and set up a common internet infrastructure;
• A grant for VET program development from the UN Development Program; and
• A new two-year grant to be announced in winter 2010. 

Looking Ahead

CCID hopes to continue its close connections with the Ministry in the future. Our main priorities now are to strengthen the Gori program’s practice and internship program, start up new advisory services to business, and fully disseminate the Gori program to other higher professional education and professional education programs in Georgia’s regions. With the Ministry’s support, we will also further develop electronic curricula with the goal of providing an on-line distance education program among university, HPE, VET, and school partners in Georgia. Community Colleges for International Development, Inc. (www.ccid.cc) is led by President and CEO John Halder and has its international headquarters on the campus of Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA. For more information please contact the Georgian or American project directors, Lali Gogeliani ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and Ardith Maney ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or CCID’s John Halder ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).