Grants / Department of State / U.S. Mission to Georgia

DOS-GEO-23-GR-013-07032023: Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Support Program 2023

Closed Closed August 10, 2023 Opportunity DOS-GEO-23-GR-013-07032023 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. Who won this program's grants before is below, and similar open grants are at the end of the page. It is in our archive of U.S. Mission to Georgia notices from 2023.

• Award ceiling$100,000
• Total funding$210,000
• Expected awards3
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeGrant

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to the applicants described in the notice.

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

Eligibility is limited to Georgian public and private authorized TVET institutions.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past AEECA/ESF PD Programs awards averaged $83,527; this notice allows up to $100,000 per award.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION Background: Georgia’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) reforms are aimed at supporting socio-economic development, poverty reduction, and developing human capital to meet the needs of the labor market. Thus far, reform has primarily focused on identifying labor force needs and reducing the mismatch between supply and demand, to reduce overall unemployment and increase the employment rates of TVET graduates. Self-employment (mainly underemployment in subsistence agriculture) and high urban unemployment remain major economic challenges. Gender balance is a significant challenge to the development of an inclusive TVET system and a barrier to women’s labor force participation. Community or family beliefs undermine the potential role of women in contributing to sustainable and productive livelihoods. Gender stereotypes about the kinds of work women and men ‘should’ do limit students from pursuing satisfying careers in non-traditional areas. Negative gender norms and beliefs hold back girls and women from applying for traditionally male-dominated trades in lieu of female-dominated trades, which may not necessarily lead to profitable work. We face the same problem with female dominated fields where negative gender norms are affecting boys and men’s decisions to follow some specific career paths. In general, gender-specific differences are most pronounced in the education, health and welfare disciplines, which are clearly dominated by women. In contrast, men dominate in engineering, manufacturing, construction and services (Geostat, 2018). Culturally, a negative stigma affiliated with TVET harkening back to the Soviet Union, has become a significant barrier for the much-needed program. TVET is not considered a desired or first-rate career path. There is a prevailing belief that TVET qualifies graduates for low status, manual, and poorly paid jobs. Employers do not trust vocational qualifications. Vocational counselling and career planning services are an essential element in the country’s education and training system. Although some reforms have been started towards this direction, still counselling and guidance remain at a basic level, mainly due to insufficient staffing.

Category: Education.

Applying now

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