The project "Democracy Starts in Schools – Engaging School Children in Decision Making Processes in Schools and Communities" in Georgia (Phase I) was implemented by the Council of Europe and funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

Objective:

• To strengthen democracy in Georgia through the increased participation of young people in decision-making processes at the local level through democratic citizenship education and practices in schools.

Expected results/outcomes:

• Educational institutions and educational staff develop school children’s competences for democratic culture.
• Schoolgirls and schoolboys exercise their democratic rights and responsibilities by participating in the decision-making processes in their schools and communities.

Activities/Outputs:

• Policy recommendations on strengthening the legislative and policy framework for the democratic governance of schools were developed jointly with the Ministry of Education and Science and other stakeholders.
• Methodological guidelines on strengthening democratic school governance in schools were developed and piloted in 20 schools.
• Capacity building: a professional development programme (training, mentoring and peer exchange) for 108 school directors and teachers on democratic citizenship education and democratic school governance was developed and delivered in 25 schools.
• School projects: schools partnered with civil society organisations and other community stakeholders to develop and implement projects linked to learning outcomes and addressing key problems in the community through a small grants scheme for civil society organisations.
• School study visit and student peer exchanges: best practices in democratic school governance were shared within one study visit by Georgian school teams to Moldova, and a summer academy was organised for a total of 64 school children (from 32 schools across nine regions of Georgia) on democracy and human rights and project management.
• A national Education for Democracy School Network for sharing and promoting best practices in democratic school governance was set up.
• Awareness-raising: a national conference to launch the project was organized and school children peer exchanged and showcased their projects within a second national conference on the participation of school children in their schools and communities.

Project information:

The Project was financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and implemented by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia from March 2022 to December 2023.

The Phase II of the project will be implemented from January 2024 to December 2027.