ქართული
Professional skills for Construction, Construction for Professional Skills” – cooperation forum took place on January 29 in Technical University. It was held by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport and ICCA, with the support of German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ). Within the framework of the event, a dialogue was held between educational institutions, construction companies and representatives of government bodies. The key topic of the dialogue was training of highly qualified personnel with professional programs in construction sector, outstanding issues and relevant solutions. Consideration was given to a dual professional training, that since Autumn 2018 has been conducted in 7 professional programs in construction sector, 10 construction companies and 3 professional colleges. The event was moderated by Ana Ssabakhtarishvili, Executive Director of ICCA. Ana Sabakhtarishvili highlights the significance of the forum that is being held under the title Professional skills for Construction, Construction for Professional Skills” for the third time already: “Meetings similar to this cover multiple segments. On the hand, it is a discussion of challenges and problematic issues, while on the other hand, discussion of existing positive examples greatly contributes to the ability of the construction business to employ highly qualified personnel with the help of professional education on a regular basis.” At the Forum welcome speeches were given by Irina Abuladze, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, Friedrich Testenssen, Director of GIZ Georgia and Levan Klimiashvili, Vice Rector of the Technical University. Irakli Karseladze, First Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure delivered a speech and a presentation during the opening of the Forum. Forum’s main panel covered theme policy, impulses and vision that were discussed by Irina Tserodze (Head of the Department of Professional Education Development, Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport), Davit Gigineishvili (Department of Construction Policy, Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia) and Beka Pheradze (Head of the Labour Inspection Department, Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia). At the event Bernd Mertz of BG BAU awarded the participants of training “Healthcare and Occupational Safety in Construction Sector 2018” with certificates. A video psa ‘GIZ PSD TVET’ on dual professional education premiered at the Forum. Within the framework of panel discussions Giorgi Vekua (Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry), Nino Elbakidze (National Center of Teacher Professional Development), Kakhaber Eradze (National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement), Ana Sabakhtarishvili (ICCA), Rusudan Sanikidze (GWP) and Maia Toidze (Blacksea College, Batumi) delivered speeches. Part of the forum was dedicated to working groups. Three working groups covered the following topics: Healthcare and occupational safety in construction sector; Energy efficiency in construction sector Dual professional education in construction sector; sharing experience and finding solutions to outstanding challenges. Within the framework of the working group ‘healthcare and occupational safety in construction sector’ presentations were given by Davit Tkhelidze, founder of ICCA’s member company SafCo. As for the working group ‘energy efficiency in construction sector, ICCA’s two member companies presented their visions before the audience: company SAGA (Alessio Gamba, Sales Manager) and company NOVA (Inga Shavadze, Trainer). The summary of the working groups was presented by Irma Gharibashvili, Mate Takidze and Khatuna Sichinava. In the final part of the event Iokhem Taisi (Development of Private Sector and Professional Education in South Caucasus, GIZ) addressed the audience and expressed a gratitude for actively participating in the event.