On 5 March, the World Bank launched a  $102.7 million programme to support Georgia’s human capital by helping to enhance the quality of education, reported agenda.ge. 

“We are excited to support the Georgian government’s commitment to the new generation. We believe that innovative, inclusive and high-quality education is essential for human capital development and will allow to narrow the skills gap between learning outcomes and labour market expectations,” said Sebastian Molineus, the World Bank Regional Director for the South Caucasus. 

The Innovation, Inclusion and Quality (I2Q) project has five main goals: 1) Expanding access to and improving the quality of early childhood education and care; 2) Fostering quality teaching and learning in general education; 3) Strengthening financing options and promoting adherence of higher education to international standards; 4) System strengthening and stakeholder communication; and 5) Supporting project management, monitoring, and evaluation.

As part of the project five new schools will be built in the coming six years, about 60 existing schools will be renovated, over 150 child-centred and modern preschool education programmes will be introduced. Overall, the project is expected to benefit around 116,000 preschool and general education students. Additionally, the project will also support students in higher education institutions with over 45 grants for modernised academic programmes with greater linkages to the labour market. 

The project is closely aligned with the World Bank’s latest Country Partnership Framework 2019-2022 for Georgia and will support the Georgian Government’s 2018-2023 Education Reform Agenda.

Besides the I2Q project, the World Bank has 4 more ongoing projects in Georgia, namely: 1) the irrigation and land market development project, 2) the energy supply reliability and financial recovery project, 3) the East-West Highway improvement project and 4) the private sector competitiveness development policy operation.