TBILISI, Georgia, June 21, 2019 – The Millennium Challenge Corporation Vice President for Administration and Finance and Head of Agency Cynthia Huger today marked the closeout of the MCC Georgia Compact II at an event celebrating the successes of the five-year, $140 million program focused on the education sector.
MCC Vice President and Head of Agency Huger was joined by Acting Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport Irina Abuladze, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vakhtang Makharoblishvili, and Former U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Nicholas Berliner, as well as public and private sector partners and compact beneficiaries for the event.
“We are so proud of what we have accomplished through this partnership with the Government of Georgia,” MCC Vice President and Head of Agency Cynthia Huger said. “Thanks to this collaboration, the next generation of Georgians will be equipped with essential skills to increase their earning potential, drive economic growth and create a more prosperous future for the entire country.”
“I am pleased to be back in Georgia today to celebrate the successes of the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s $140 million education-focused compact, five years in the making,” Former U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Nicholas Berliner said. “Together with the Georgian government, we are improving education and employment opportunities for all citizens of Georgia. The United States is committed to supporting Georgia’s economic prosperity and stability.”
Accomplishments of the MCC Georgia Compact II
The MCC Georgia Compact II was designed in coordination with the Government of Georgia to improve the quality of human capital in the country by investing in education. The compact’s investments will equip more than 1.7 million Georgians with better education and training, increasing workforce capacity in fields critical for economic growth, including science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
This is MCC’s first compact to focus exclusively on education. By investing in education at every level, from general education to technical and vocational training to advanced degree programs, the compact helped build a pipeline of better educated students equipped with the skills to meet the demands of industry. The compact also included a focus on increasing women’s participation in the workforce, including in more lucrative STEM fields.
The $73 million Improving General Education Quality Project targeted areas where the Georgian education sector needed the most support: the physical learning environment, secondary school teacher subject knowledge and pedagogical skills, school management capacity and education assessments. Through this project, 91 public schools were fully rehabilitated benefiting more than 37,000 Georgian schoolchildren. In addition, 15,000 secondary STEM and English teachers, 1,800 principals and 1,400 school-based professional development facilitators nationwide were trained, strengthening their instructional skills and management capacity.
The $16 million Industry-Led Skills and Workforce Development Project increased the number of Georgians with in-demand technical skills with an emphasis on STEM-related technical professions and other growing industries. Grants from this project developed 51 new or expanded Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programs at 10 education institutions throughout Georgia. Over 1,900 students have enrolled in these programs and more than 700 have already graduated.
The $34 million STEM Higher Education Project supported the delivery of high-quality STEM bachelor’s degrees in Georgia. Through a competitive process, San Diego State University (SDSU) was selected to deliver U.S.-accredited bachelor’s degrees in six disciplines including chemistry, computer science and engineering. SDSU partners with three Georgian public universities—Tbilisi State University, Ilia State University, and Georgian Technical University—to deliver these degrees, strengthening the capacity of these universities to deliver internationally accredited degree programs to Georgian students. More than 600 students were enrolled in these programs during the compact, 85 percent from lower-income families, 30 percent from regions outside Tbilisi and 36 percent women.
MCC recognizes the Government of Georgia for being a strong partner throughout compact development and implementation, ensuring not only that compact objectives were met but also making commitments to sustain these objectives for years to come.
The MCC Georgia Compact II will officially close on July 1, 2019. Learn more about the accomplishments of the compact on our feature page.