The winners of the National TVET Award competition organized by the Millennium Foundation were announced for the year 2022. The traditional competition was held for the fifth time this year, and in addition to the five main categories, the special prizes were established by the Parliament of Georgia and the Vocational Skills Agency.
Akaki Tsankashvili, a student from college Icarus, became the winner in the TVET student of the year category. Akaki has successfully mastered the profession of confectioner and today, he shares his knowledge with students at the college as a teacher. Akaki has special educational needs (he is deaf) and every day he proves that the possibilities are endless.
Grigol Frangishvili, a teacher of the Railway Transport College, won the status of the TVET teacher of the year. The winner in the category of the TVET program of the year was awarded to college Icarus, for its program - Culinary Art, while Cooking Technology program of college Akhali Talgha was named as the TVET training/re-training program of the Year. PSP Pharma was declared as the TVET business partner of the year.
This year, in addition to the main competition categories, special awards were established by the competition partners: the Parliament of Georgia and the Professional Skills Agency.
The special prize of the Parliament of Georgia - in the category of promoting inclusive vocational education - was given to college Modusi.
The Special Prize of the Skills Agency was awarded in several sub-categories to Rustavi Municipality (Regional Supporter of the Year), Georgian Business Academy - SBA (International Initiative of the Year), TSU College of Media and Television Arts (Campaign of the Year) and Ketevan Sujashvili, from Ilia Tsinamdishvili College (training enterprise instructor).
Mr. Shalva Papuashvili, the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, Dr. Mikheil Chkhenkeli, the Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, H.E. Ms. Kelly Degnan, US Ambassador to Georgia, H.E. Ms. Hadas Ester Meitzad, Ambassador of Israel to Georgia, Giorgi Amilakhvari, Chairman of the Education and Science Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, Tamar Kitiashvili, Director of the Vocational Skills Agency and Zurab Kervalishvili, Director of Gudavadze-Patarkatsishvili Foundation delivered the opening remarks.
"I am glad that we remain loyal to this tradition and we see that the number of participants and support from partner organizations increase every year in this competition, which we started six years ago. By demonstrating successful examples and the best practices in the field, we aim to promote the vocational education and strengthen the private-public partnerships in the sector. This is one of the important directions of our foundation, because the development of the vocational education is an important foundation for improving the country's economy", - said Magda Magradze, CEO of Millennium Foundation.
"We are glad that through our work with the Millennium Foundation and by investing funds in the education sector, we have created a successful model of partnership, which is the best example of how joint efforts can promote the education sector and make vocational education popular in the country," - commented Zurab Kervalishvili, Director of Gudavadze Patarkatsishvili Foundation.
The National TVET Award annual competition was organized for the fifth time this year by the Millennium Foundation, which aims to develop and popularize vocational education as an important component for country's economic development. The general sponsor of the award is the Gudavadze-Patarkatsishvili Foundation. The competition is supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia.
