Georgia Today – National Assessment and Examinations Center

Exams 2023 – Registration is Open

Online registration for the Unified National Examinations, Unified Masters Exam and Student Grant Competition started today at 10:00 AM. Eligible applicants should register at online.naec.ge until the 3^rd of April 18:00 PM.

The Unified National Examinations are centralized, high-stakes and computer based. The whole process is standardized, every procedure including test development, administration, marking and appellation is in compliance with established regulations and applicants are in equal conditions. By means of valid, fair, and reliable educational assessment the NAEC contributes to the improvement of the quality of education in Georgia.

On Wednesday, the 1st the director of the National Assessment and Examinations Center sat down with media to discuss the registration procedures.

Dr. Sophia Gorgodze encouraged the entrants to pay attention to the registration regulations and deadlines highlighted at the NAEC’s annual “Guideline for Entrants”.

The document includes a list of educational programs, frequently asked questions, news and all the important topics related to the upcoming examination process.

Further information regarding the procedures, fees and other relevant issues are available at www.naec.ge

“Putting PIRLS to Use in Classrooms Across the Globe” – Presentation

On Wednesday, the 25th, the presentation of an e-book was held at NAEC. The book “Putting PIRLS to Use in Classrooms Across the Globe” was prepared based on the materials of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA).

IEA is an international cooperative of national research institutions, governmental research agencies, scholars, and analysts working to research, understand, and improve education worldwide. PIRLS, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, is one of the core studies of IEA. PIRLS provides internationally comparative data on how well children read and offers educators and policymakers key insights for improving learning and teaching. NAEC has been conducting PIRLS since 2006.

Dr. Gorgodze, along with her colleagues, and the IEA representatives Andrea Netten, Paulína Koršňáková and Laura Cheeseman presented important insights from the book. Primary level teachers attended the presentation which was followed by engaging discussions in two parallel sessions.

In the book, which is dedicated to reading strategies, the example of five countries, including Georgia (Bolnisi Municipality Vill Darbazi Public School & Public School # 2 in Akhalkaki), is given. The book includes the best practices from schools internationally and we are pleased that two schools from Georgia and their practices are among them.

This new resource will help teachers put the latest scientific approaches to reading comprehension into practice. The book is the first in the IEA series which aims to highlight and translate practical information derived from the association’s studies, using the data in a suitable way to give back to teachers.

The book “Putting PIRLS to Use in Classrooms Across the Globe” is available in Georgian.

The First Round of the National School Olympiad

The first round of the National School Olympiad of the 2022-2023 academic year was held electronically from December 9 to December 13.

Any student from grade 7 to grade 12 was eligible to participate remotely anytime during the set dates. The testing time was limited and counted by the special computer program. Tests with different level of difficulty was used in STEM subjects depending on the grades of the participants. However, the same level of difficulty was offered in humanities subjects. The items mostly focused on reasoning and problem solving as well as the general educational background of students.

More than 56 700 students took part in the first round of the of the National School Olympiad including pupils with special educational needs and convicted juveniles.

The second round of the Olympiad will be held in the examination centers and the first 1000 participants with 60% or above in the first round will be eligible. Only the brightest top 50 students in each subject will move to the third round and compete for the national award. Also, the winners of the National School Olympiad will group up for the international Olympiads in the relevant subjects.

The main goal of the Olympiad is to stimulate the learning process and raise the motivation of students.

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.

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!

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.