The project – “Teacher-guide to Europe” launched!
May 19, 2023
Within the framework of “Europe Days 2023”, the seminar “Teacher-guide to Europe” was opened at the Information Centre on NATO and EU under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The project brought together 60 teachers from the regions and the capital. During the two-day seminar, teachers will learn about Georgia’s relations with the European Union and NATO, the dynamics of European integration and its subsequent processes.
The seminar was opened by Tamara Tsuleiskiri, director of the Information Centre on NATO and EU and Berika Shukakidze, director of the National Center for Teacher Professional Development.
Tamara Tsuleiskiri spoke about the importance of raising teachers’ awareness about Georgia’s Western integration and emphasized the need to involve them in the processes: “Teachers are one of the main target groups of the Information Centre, because it is the teacher who has the most important role in shaping the system of values of young people. With this in mind, the Information Center carries out a great number of activities for teachers throughout the year. We are especially proud that the interest of teachers is also very high. This year, we received an unprecedentedly high number of applications (over 1,800) for participation in the seminar through open competition” – Tamara Tsuleiskiri said.
For his part, Berika Shukakidze spoke about the importance of consistently informing teachers about the main priorities of Georgia’s foreign policy – joining NATO and the European Union, the integration process and related responsibilities. He focused on the daily activities of the teacher and his/her special importance in public life.
The speakers for the first day of the seminar were: Levan Makhashvili, Associate Professor of the University of Eastern Europe, Head of Cabinet of the Chairman of the Georgian Parliament; Davit Bujiashili, Director of EU Assistance Coordination and Sectoral Integration Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia; Natia Gvenetadze, Senior Advisor at the Defence Affairs Department of the National Security Council of Georgia, and Gia Arganashvili, a literature expert.
During the first day of the seminar, the invited experts talked about the history, mission and goals of the creation of the European Union and NATO, Georgia’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration process, its importance, the dynamics of cooperation and future perspectives, and common values uniting Europe and Georgia.
The project is implemented by the Information Center on NATO and EU under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in partnership with the National Centre for Teacher Professional Development.
The goal of the project is to raise teachers’ awareness and competence about Georgia’s European integration and European values. At the next stage, beneficiaries will independently carry out non-formal education projects in public schools.
It should be noted that the project is being implemented for the eighth time this year. Since 2014, over 750 teachers have been trained, more than 400 projects have been implemented, and 50 authors (teachers) of winning projects have visited Latvia and Estonia on a study visit.