There is a contradiction surrounding the teaching profession in Georgia: in our research we constantly hear about the huge respect society has for teachers who have been doing the job for most of their lives. In many communities, veteran teachers are some of the most respected people, almost local heroes. But at the same time, there is a stereotyped image of “Soviet” teachers using outdated methods, (in spite of the fact that a majority of Georgian teachers did not teach during the Soviet Union), a picture of teachers from a time gone by imparting obsolete knowledge in an old-fashioned way.
Indeed, it is true that Georgia’s teachers tend to be older, and international and national student assessments show that there is no positive relationship between the number of years a teacher has been employed and student achievement. Data from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013 and 2018, showed that the average age of teachers was 48 and 50 – higher than the TALIS average by 5 and 7 years, respectively—the highest age of any of the 48 countries studied. Georgian teachers tend to stay longer in their jobs than TALIS or OECD average.
In addition, the distribution of teachers across the country and across types of settlement is uneven. Owing to decades of migration from the countryside to urban centres—especially Tbilisi—rural schools have few pupils and many teachers, whereas schools in Tbilisi have a much higher student to teacher ratio. In addition, because of limited work opportunities, half of rural teachers work part time.
Furthermore, teaching in Georgia suffers from a severe image problem. There is a perception of the profession having low salaries and teachers themselves having low prestige. This perception plays a role in stopping brighter and more motivated young people from becoming teachers. In spite of this image though, real remuneration for teachers has gone up considerably over the years. A full-time teacher salary compares well with other careers, especially in rural areas, where the average teacher salary is higher than the average household income.
Increases in salaries and opportunities for professional development have certainly made teaching a more appealing career path in Georgia. However, in spite of these positive trends, until recently it was difficult for novice teachers to get hired full-time. Between 2015-2018 only 821 teachers under the age of 30 entered Georgia’s public school system.
In 2019 the Georgian government decided to facilitate a generational shift in the country’s teachers. To encourage older teachers to retire, and thus make room for younger teachers, the government announced a reform for teachers of pensionable age, allowing them to retire in exchange for a one-off bonus worth two years of their salary. Around 8,000 retirement-age teachers took this package, 5,000 of which were replaced by new teachers. This reform has produced positive trends in terms of the average age of teachers as one third of new hires were under 30 years of age. However, Georgian teachers are still significantly older than the OECD or TALIS averages. A possible threat is that now as new teachers have entered the system, it once again becomes ‘locked’ and reluctant to accept any more ‘new blood’.
Another ongoing structural issue concerning the teaching profession in Georgia is that, even though it attracts people who are motivated by the ‘right reasons’, it fails to attract the brightest school leavers into teacher training programmes—at least according to achievement scores in the standardized national exams. While there is a minimum threshold that all university applicants need to pass, the scores are assessed only in relation to each other rather than objective grade criteria. The one-year teacher training course for university graduates also requires passing an exam set by training provider universities, however, they are generally able to accept a high number of applicants and are more demand-flexible.
Another important factor for producing competent teachers is the practical element of teaching programs/courses—making sure trainees have actual, classroom experience. While available teaching courses and programs do have a “practical” component, it is insufficient for trainees to get hired as teachers. The practical element of teacher training courses is both insufficient in terms of a trainee’s resume, and in terms of the trainee being fully prepared and confident enough to start teaching a class.
Another important issue is the on-the-job professional development. While training modules are continuously offered to teachers, they are not tailored to the needs of teachers and are not demand-based. Teachers in our focus groups noted that there had not been any surveys of their training needs so they are left to chose from a menu of training options that are often not appropriate for them. They also said that the trainers themselves are often not fully qualified to be giving the training.
There is a wide consensus that Georgia needs new blood in the teaching profession, a new generation of young, highly motivated and innovative teachers around the country who will prepare Georgian students for the modern world. However, as our research has shown, it has proven difficult to attract large numbers of young Georgians into the profession. This policy paper will examine the demographic profile of teachers across Georgia; will discuss the various attempts that have been made to attract new talent into the profession and look at teachers’ ongoing professional development; it will also discuss the barriers to recruiting young blood into the profession and make recommendations as to how these issues might be alleviated.
