Evaluating Preliminary Results of Policy Changes Related to Application and Enrollment in VET Programs

The main goals of this project are to examine the application and enrollment procedures in vocational education and training (VET) programs and to provide an assessment of the preliminary results of the newly-introduced policy changes. The study relies on an analysis of qualitative and quantitative data to garner insights into the challenges regarding the enrollment process in vocational programs and to provide relevant recommendations. Within the study, PMC Research will:

• Conduct in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with representatives of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport of Georgia, vocational institutions, the National Assessment and Examination Center, and the Education Management Information System;
• Conduct interviews and focus group discussions with applicants, students, and dropouts of vocational programs (the pool of respondents represents a variety of programs, age groups, genders, and socioeconomic backgrounds);
• Analyze quantitative data from the Education Management Information System to examine trends in application, enrollment, and early termination of studies over recent years and glean some preliminary results of the introduced policy changes; and
• Provide an analysis of the preliminary results of these policy changes based on a synthesis of qualitative and quantitative data, and then develop relevant recommendations for the Ministry.