On June 28, 2017 Momavlis Taoba Program (MT) summarized the results of its 3-year work at the event held in Tbilisi Funicular. Funded by USAID and supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, MT worked with 480 schools nationwide to promote greater civic engagement of young people; and enhance civil society’s role in promoting transparent and accountable governance at the national and local levels by expanding and institutionalizing secondary school civics education curricula and practical applications.MT trained 1550 civics teachers through accredited civics course, provided workshops for school administration officials, and created a variety of professional development opportunities for teachers, such as video resources, model lessons, critical friends group and roundtable discussions.
Civics supplemental curriculum was developed and is used by students and teachers at MT’s partner schools of the program in all regions, Armenian and Azeri versions of the curriculum are used by ethnic minority students and teachers in Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli; The program helped to establish school-based civics clubs through which students connect with local decision-makers and work voluntarily to resolve the critical issues for their schools and communities. Since 2010, a total of 750 mini-grant projects were implemented by students, teachers, school administration officials and parents that center on youth involvement in democratic life of the country; 1800 students have also been involved in using social media for civic engagement and youth forums.
In 2013 the Civics Teachers’ Forum was create, an independent professional organization which now brings together 1000 civics teachers from all regions of Georgia. External evaluation revealed that compared with baseline study results, the number of students in program target group, number of students, who confirm applying knowledge gained at civics classes to practice has increased by 27.5.
Over 125,000 students, teachers, school administration officials, parents and community members took part in MT activities nationwide.Close-out event of MT featured presentations of students about their initiatives carried out for community benefit. Students also spoke about videos created for the video advocacy contest and winner blog of the blog contest for civics teachers was presented. MT awarded partner organizations and media for their support to the program. Event was completed with impressive pantomime performance by Tbilisi schools students about the importance of civic education. Audience of the event included teachers, students, representatives of USAID and Ministry of Education and Science, local NGO partners, representatives from state and private sector and members of the Civics Teacher Forum.
