National Assessment and Examinations Center

NAEC is 20 years old! Anniversary conference

On Tuesday, November 22, National Assessment and Examinations Center held a conference dedicated to the 20th anniversary of it’s establishment.

The conference was opened by the Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, Mikheil Chkhenkeli. Long time partners, the representatives of various state agencies, local and international organizations and individuals working in the field of education got together to recall NAEC’s history and hear about the future plans.

The organization, which made a significant contribution to the creation of a fair, transparent assessment system based on meritocratic principles, was founded in Georgia in 2002.

Initially the Center conducted examinations only for university entrants. However, due to hard work and devotion of the team the area of activity expanded soon afterwards.

Currently, NAEC conducts various types of exams, administers international educational research and consults local and foreign partner organizations on assessment and large scale, high stakes examinations.

The Center’s employees, most of whom have been working in the organization since its establishment, recalled the path taken by National Assessment and Examinations Center, the first exam process and the difficulties that accompanied the introduction of the new exam model.

At the conference, the Center also presented a project “Assessment for Development”. The goal of the project is to measure students’ achievements towards the national curriculum and track their progress.

It is worth mentioning that the item development, as well as registration, test delivery and marking is fully electronic. The results are aimed to help students and parents track the progress made during the learning process and get information about the weaknesses and strengths.

The second part of the conference was dedicated to themed discussions and presentations on the following topics:

“Assessment for Development”: implementation challenges and results;
Challenges related to scientific (STEM) careers and professional choices of 15-year-old students;
TIMSS 2019 – analysis of student responses according to content and cognitive areas;
Differences and achievement gaps between the students at the primary level in Georgia.

The event concluded with a summary of the discussions.

The Director of the NAEC Dr. Sophia Gorgodze was elected to the IEA Standing Committee

Sophia Gorgodze was elected to the IEA Standing Committee at the General Assembly Meeting sessions that are being held in Split, Croatia between 3-5 October 2022.

IEA International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement is an international cooperative of national research institutions, government research agencies, scholars, and analysts working to evaluate, understand, and improve education worldwide. More than 60 countries are actively involved in the IEA network, and over 100 education systems participate in their studies.

The IEA Standing Committee (SC) consists of the IEA chair and six General Assembly representatives (elected for a three-year term). The committee serves as a board of directors for both IEA and the IEA Secretariat. She will replace Dr. Zuwaina Saleh Issa Al-Maskari.

Dr. Gorgodze will join current IEA Standing Committee members Mr. Barclay Anstiss, Dr. Thierry Rocher (chair), Dr. Stephen Provasnik, Dr. Roberto Ricci, Ms. Sophia Gorgodze, Dr. Ines Elezović, and Dr. Maria Axelsson.

Sophia Gorgodze is an experienced education specialist with over 16 years of experience as a teacher, lecturer, education consultant and education projects manager. At Ilia University Ms. Gorgodze has taught different education courses to future school administrators and teachers at BA, MA and PHD level. Ms. Gorgodze worked for the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia at various positions. Most importantly, she held the position of a Director at National Center for Teacher Professional Development in 2007-2010. Ms. Gorgodze holds MA degree in International Education Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education and MA degree in American Studies from Tbilisi State University. She earned her Doctoral degree in Education from Ilia State University.

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Vocational Exams Have Started

After months of intense exams, three busy days are still ahead for the National Assessment and Examinations Center. Vocational college entrance exams started today at 9AM in 53 exam centers throughout Georgia.

The Deputy Minister of Education and Science Valerian Gobronidze and the Director of the NAEC Sophia Gorgodze visited the examination center located at the Technical University of Georgia and observed the testing process on the spot.

This year the NAEC will be hosting 150 applicants with special needs, therefore all of the exam centers are fully equipped accordingly.

Vocational testing will continue until September 8.

On September 7, applicants will be tested in literacy and quantitative literacy, and the general abilities exam will be held on September 7-8.

The maximum score in literacy as well as in quantitative literacy is 30. The minimum competency threshold is 15% of the maximum score. The time for testing is 1 hour and 30 minutes.

As for general abilities or aptitude, the maximum test score is 50, and the time for working on test is 2 hours.

The NAEC has given an opportunity to applicants to take a pre-test online and familiarize themselves with the features of the program and sample items remotely.

In 2022, admission is announced for more than 600 vocational programs. About 24,500 applicants expressed their desire to participate in the exams.

Continue to Study in Georgia

On Thursday, 1st the National Assessment and Examinations Center conducted an exam for applicants who were willing to continue their studies in Georgia.

The NAEC supports Georgian citizens’ endeavors to transfer from foreign universities to Georgian higher educational institutions. Therefore, the organization facilitates such exams twice a year to ensure more flexible schedule and broader opportunities.

The exam started at 12:00 and lasted for 2 hours and 30 minutes.

In order to successfully pass the exam, the examinees should score more than 50% of the maximum points specified for the test (minimum threshold 23 points).

The exam results will be announced as soon as the papers are marked. The results will be available on the website: online.naec.ge. The applicants will be able to access their personal accounts using the password given by the NAEC on an exam day.

The registration dates for the upcoming exam date will be announced later.

2022 University Admission Results

Today marks the beginning of a new era for many young Georgians. After hottest weeks of examination, marking and appellation process, the National Assessment and Examinations Center published the university admission and grant distribution results.

More than 77 percent of the registered applicants – a total of 32,100 enrolled in the universities of their choice.

About 6 550 examinees received a state grant.

Some 1 390 examinees enrolled in Georgian language training programs and more than 200 of them were funded.

Today, during the press briefing, the Director of the National Assessment and Examinations Center Dr. Sophia Gorgodze congratulated the applicants and wished good luck in their future endeavors. Dr. Gorgodze also reminded the students that it is necessary to contact the higher education institutions in the coming days to sign the contracts and finalize the paperwork.

*Dr. Sophia Gorgodze*, *Director of the National Assessment and Examinations Center*

The top six educational programs this year according to the first choice of entrants were: law, psychology, humanities, business administration and healthcare.

The unified national exams of 2022 started on July 4 with the Georgian language and literature exam. 22 examination centers opened throughout Georgia received about 90,000 applicants, including more than 41,000 entrants. In parallel to the main sessions, additional sessions were held for those who tested positive for Covid-19.

Exams 2022 Have Started

The busiest days are ahead for the NAEC. Up to 90 000 registered applicants in 22 exam centers around the country will be testing out their skills and knowledge within the upcoming two months.

The first exam days of the Unified National Exams of 2022 have passed peacefully. On the 4^th of July up to 95% registered examinees were present during Georgian language and literature exam.

More than 41,000 entrants have registered for the Unified National Exams this year. It is necessary for applicants to appear on time for each exam with an identity document and an exam card, which indicates the time and place of each exam – applicants will not be admitted to the exam after the registration is completed.

All centers are equipped with a cooling system and all the necessary infrastructure. Ambulances, rescue service and patrol police are mobilized at the examination centers.

The entrants have the opportunity to choose and change educational programs for several more months until the publication of the results of the appeal. This regulation has been adopted by the Center to let the examinees make decisions based on their actual results which increases their chances to be enrolled in the desired programs.

The major news of the 2022: entrants have the broader opportunity to choose the third compulsory subject as the literature, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, fine and applied arts, civic education were added to the list along with the existing subjects: mathematics and/or history.

The change does not apply to any program of the health direction and also to the method of awarding with the grant.

2022 Exam Regulations: Pandemic-related regulations that have been in place for the past two years will be abolished for the 2022 exams. Examinees may only wear a mask if they wish to.

As for those who will officially be diagnosed with Covid-19, they will not be excluded from the examination process. In addition, one exam session of the relevant subject will be conducted for such examinees after at least 7 days of infection. An additional session will be scheduled only once per subject.

The National Assessment and Examinations Center determines the participants of the additional examination session based on the information collected from the database of the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health.

In parallel with the Unified National Exams in 2022, the National Assessment and Examinations Center is also conducting a Common Master’s Degree Exam and a Student Grant Competition. The center will also conduct the Subject/Professional Skills/Senior Special Teacher Examinations.

Stay tuned for more news and updates regarding the Exams 2022!

Annual Meeting with Exam Center Administrators and Coordinators was Organized by the NAEC

The National Assessment and Examinations Center hosted administrators and coordinators of the examination centers to discuss the latest updates regarding the upcoming exams.

The meeting was chaired by the director of the Center Sophia Gorgodze, the deputy Kakha Jamburia and the heads of the relevant departments of the NAEC.

*Kakha Jamburia, Deputy Director of the NAEC*

The Director of the National Assessment and Examinations Center thanked the administrators and coordinators of the examination centers for organizing the examinations and the work done in the past years. She wished each of them success in this year’s exams:

*Sophia Gorgodze, the director of the Center*

Some of you have been able to do the impossible during the pandemic, these very difficult 2 years – I appreciate it very much and thank you for that. I would especially like to wish success to those who will be an administrator or a coordinator for the first time this year, as they will make a significant contribution to the examination process. We have up to 90 thousand applicants in 2022 – this number is unprecedented in the history of the Center. This time too, our main task is to make each examinee feel that we have created an appropriate, decent exam environment for them after the exams are over. I believe that together we will achieve a common goal.
Sophia Gorgodze, the director of the Center

22 administrators and 22 coordinators are involved in facilitation of the 2022 exams. 22 examination centers have been opened throughout Georgia.

This year’s exams will start on July 4 with the Unified National Examinations.

The National School Olympiad 2021-2022 Award Ceremony

The winners of the National School Olympiad of the 2021-2022 academic year were awarded by the Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Georgia Tamar Makharashvili and the Director of the National Assessment and Examinations Center Sophia Gorgodze.

*Sophia Gorgodze, Director of the National Assessment and Examinations Center; Tamar Makharashvili, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Georgia*

The first, second and third place winners were awarded with gift cards and diplomas.

Special thanks went to the “Association for Support of Information Technology Training and Informatics Olympiads” and its head, Mr. Giorgi Mandaria, for holding the Informatics Training Olympiad for the 2021-2022 academic year.

The National School Olympiad was organized in three rounds in the following subjects: Georgian language and literature, Georgian language for students of non-Georgian language schools, mathematics, history, geography, physics, chemistry, biology, foreign language.

More than 31,900 students expressed their desire to participate in the first round. Students had an opportunity to participate remotely from any computer connected to the Internet due to pandemic.

The second and third rounds were held at the examination centers. The top ten contestants were identified in all subjects and age categories. The winning students will become members of the team that will participate in the International Olympiads on behalf of Georgia.

The National School Olympiad is held every year. The purpose of the Olympiad is to stimulate the learning process and encourage students.

“Assessment for Development” – Project Workshop

The National Assessment and Examinations Center organized a workshop for school principals and teachers of Vake-Saburtalo and Old Tbilisi districts within the framework of the project “Assessment for Development”.

The event was held at the 55th Public School. Dr. Sophia Gorgodze, Director of the National Assessment and Examinations Center, and Dr. Eka Jeladze, Project Manager, discussed the test results with representatives of the schools involved in the project. The participants of the meeting once again received detailed information about the electronic platform of the report and its specifics.

The last large-scale pilot test for the electronic platform was conducted in more than 500 public schools throughout Georgia within the framework of the following project in May. Both Georgian and mathematics tests were taken by 5,000 to 7,000 students on each day of the testing. Students and parents, as well as teachers and principals, have recently received detailed diagnostic evaluation results. In order to better understand the electronic system and, in particular, the report module, the National Assessment and Examinations Center plans to conduct meetings for other schools involved in the project.

Explore more about “Assessment for Development” project here.

Getting Ready for the 2022 Exams

The National Assessment and Examinations Center is actively preparing for the exams 2022. Twenty two examination centers throughout Georgia have already been selected, equipped and are ready for hosting the upcoming exams.

A total of 90,000 examinees have been registered for the 2022 exams. More than 41,000 entrants, 2,500 students, 9,500 graduate students, 34,500 teachers and aspiring teachers will be testing out their skills and knowledge within two hottest months of summer. Therefore, the Center has taken extra careful measures to ensure comfortable and safe environment for all applicants and the staff members.

Answer sheets and supporting materials have been published, packed and are being delivered to each exam center. Hygienic tools have been distributed. Sound amplifiers and headphones, pens, information posters, and medicine needed for each center for emergency medical care are already inspected and ready to be sent to the centers. Exams are currently being conducted through a special program.

All the computers that will be used for the 2022 exams were tested and equipped with a special program. Including computers for listening to foreign languages. Exam servers are also being prepared.

The National Assessment and Examinations Center has selected, trained and re-trained the supervisors who, along with other staff of the Center, will manage the process on the spot in the examination centers. Administrators-coordinators, IT managers, assistants and other technical staff have also been appointed.