Vocational education and training (VET) reform has been at the top of the reform agenda in Georgia for several months. The government authorities perceive reforming VET as a solution to a range of interconnected challenges the country faces, such as labor market mismatches, the “over-education” trap, high unemployment, as well as poverty rates. To address those challenges, one of the strategies set by the government is to support entrepreneurial education in the VET system.

ISET is proud to announce that the very first step towards supporting entrepreneurial education was accomplished by the ISET team led by its President, Eric Livny. The task of the ISET team was to deliver proposals on how to improve the provision of basic entrepreneurial skills within the regular training. The team also explored ways in which to identify, select and incubate talented future entrepreneurs.

The presentation was held at the Ministry of Education and Science on October 13 and was attended by senior figures from the governmental, non-governmental and international organizations, including EUVEGE, GIZ, UNDP, and the World Bank. Moreover, the event was opened by the First Deputy Minister of Education and Science Ketevan Natriashvili, who also made the concluding remarks.

President Livny presented three “big ideas” on how to support entrepreneurial education within the VET system. First of all, he emphasized the importance of experimentation and horizontal learning among VET colleges and advocated for holding “best pedagogical practice” competitions to encourage innovation and experimentation in the teaching and practicing of entrepreneurship. Secondly, he recommended that students engage in running mini-companies, wherein students would be able to acquire entrepreneurial experience relevant to the “real world”. Thirdly, in order to identify and nurture talented entrepreneurs, President Livny proposed the organization of multi-stage competitions in partnership with the private sector.

President Livny's recommendations were very well received by the Ministry of Education and Science, and ISET hopes that collaboration between the Ministry and the institute will deepen in the future.