NAEC – Page 4 – National Assessment and Examinations Center

Information Meetings for Entrants

The National Assessment and Examinations Center continues to host information meetings for university entrants around the country.

On Monday, the 27th, another meeting was held in Kutaisi. University entrants from different schools attended the meeting. The Director of the NAEC Dr. Sophia Gorgodze and Mrs. Maia Gabunia the Head of Examinations Process Management Department delivered the presentation to the guests regarding the admission requirements, registration and other terms and conditions for the upcoming Unified National Exams 2023. The second part of the meeting was dedicated to an interactive Q & A session.

Information meetings or “Open Door Days” are essential part of the NAEC’s annual information campaign. Each year the subject experts as well as the management try their best to meet applicants and cover all of the key topics related to the exams.

It is worth mentioning that the Center held online open door days throughout the pandemic. Currently, luckily, information meetings are held in person. Representatives of the Center have already visited Marneuli, Bolnisi, Gardabani, Mtskheta, Sagarejo and Gurjaani.

Special Report 2022

This is a special year for the National Assessment and Examinations Center as the organization celebrates its 20th anniversary.

For every employee of the Center, this date is memorable, important and meaningful. Despite many obstacles, during its 20 years, the Center was able to initiate one of the most successful reforms in the field of education in Georgia – the Unified National Examinations.
Throughout the years the NAEC has managed to further develop the testing and assessment system and retain the public trust that is really valuable for us.
In this Special Report, we will share what has been achieved during the twenty-year history of the Center, what the challenges associated with the introduction of the first centralized high-stakes examinations were and how the public responded to the reform.

Apart from the introduction of centralized exams in 2005, the other biggest challenge has been holding examinations during the two years of the Coronavirus Pandemic. During the high peaks of Covid-19, our organization proved once again that with the tireless work of our professional team it is possible to achieve the goals even in such arduous circumstances.

In this report, readers will also learn how the exam process is prepared every year and what changed from one year to another.

The Special Report 2022 can be downloaded from here Download

“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.

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.

Source

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.