The EU and the government of Georgia have launched the second phase of the Skills4Jobs programme in Georgia that will assist 105,000 Georgians find jobs by expanding high quality vocational education, improving labour policies, and supporting entrepreneurship training, the EU in Georgia reports.
The new five year programme has a total budget of €48.85 million (156 million GEL).
The EU says that the targets for the programme include:
- At least 105,000 Georgians find jobs with the assistance of the measures taken.
- An increase of at least 10 per cent in the employment rate of young people aged 15-29 with vocational education and training education nationwide.
- At least 20 per cent of jobseekers in the regions who completed retraining programmes are employed within three months.
- Development and publication of National Skills Anticipation Report with a 5-year outlook.
Carl Hartzell, ambassador of the EU to Georgia, stated that “employment is a key concern for people everywhere. One prerequisite is ensuring that job seekers have the skills the market needs, and can find the available jobs.”
He said that with the first Skills4Jobs programme the EU assisted the Georgian government to train over 750 teachers and offer over 100 modern, relevant, vocation education courses.
“We also helped establish tools like a national labour needs survey, worknet and pilot employment support centres to help make those linkages. Over 30,000 persons found work through these achievements,” Hartzell said.
He said that with the new programme the EU plans to take these successes and make them more accessible in the regions and among youth, women and vulnerable groups.
“Of course, it takes more than just a programme to make a real impact, there is also a need for strong political will and determination. We look forward to working closely with the Government over the next years to ensure better and more employment for Georgians,” Hartzell said.
The programme was presented yesterday at Gldani Vocational Education and Training Centre, by the presence of Georgian Education Minister Mikheil Batiashvili and other top officials.
