Partnership with Public School Teachers in the Field of Electoral Civic Education Continues
The CEC and the Training Centre use various informational-communication platforms under the umbrella of the youth electoral civic education strategy. In order to successfully implement the task, the Election Administration pays significant attention to strengthening partnerships with educational institutions.
Among the projects initiated in the direction of electoral education, it is noteworthy that the Training Centre developed specialized informational-study program for civic education teachers in public schools. For the first time project "Democratic Elections and Electoral Environment" was implemented in 2024, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Science and Youth of Georgia. 478 teachers from 473 public schools located in 22 municipalities participated in the pilot program. The program was positively evaluated by the beneficiaries.
This year, the project is planned to be continued, within the framework of which the employees of the Training Centre will share their experience on the election training module with civic education teachers from about 500 public schools operating in 23 municipalities (the implementation area includes municipalities populated by ethnic minorities).
Within the framework of the training program developed by the Training Centre, teachers will get acquainted with the following key issues: the importance of the role of voters and aspects of political culture; principles and international standards for conducting democratic elections; trends in the modernization of elections and the use of electronic technologies in the voting process; realization of voters' right to vote, secrecy and security during the polling process; inclusive electoral environment; election services offered to voters by the Election Administration of Georgia.
The next phase of the project implementation provides to integrate the prepared study module on elections into the school curriculum and sharing the novelties with students, to ensure the raising of their electoral awareness and formation as informed voters. For these purposes, teachers will be provided with additional resources developed by the Training Centre, which include the topics to be discussed, reading material for expanding the topic, practical exercises, and recommendations on the methodology for conducting the training.
Informational meetings with school teachers will be held through the period of February 17 - March 7, 2025, at Educational Resource Centers operating within the project implementation area.