The “Millennium Challenge Account –Georgia” Teacher and School Director Professional Development Project, which is implemented by LEPL National Center for Teacher Professional Development, awarded public school directors the certificates of completion of "Leadership Academy 1"- Improvement of School Management.

The "Leadership Academy 1” was attended by more than 1,700 public school directors from August to October 2016 within the long-term course developed under the project.

The three levels of Leadership Academy consist of 11 training modules and quarterly meetings. The course has been designed to support public school directors’ professional development and help them effectively manage the school and provide a student-centered learning environment. The professional development course began on 15 August 2016 and will gradually continue until the end of 2018. The program involves all the public school directors across the country.

"I was a newly appointed head of the school when I realized that the organizational culture and environment in the school which I had inherited required some changes, though I was not able to come up with any particular steps to make. After the completion of the Leadership Academy 1, I understood I had to transform the established authoritarian- exploitative management style to participatory –organizational system model, which I did ultimately. As a result, today, any stranger will find it easy to notice the current environment in the school, where collaboration, team work, mutual learning is the school’s daily routine," said Morris Dandurishvili, the Principal of Khashuri public school № 1.

The successful completion of the entire program will help school directors improve their practices in terms of management which the school needs and become strong, motivated and effective leaders.

According to the monitoring results, 81% of directors who participated in the first Leadership Academy considered that the learning objectives of the training were relevant to their professional needs. Moreover, 76% of directors said that the training improved their professional level and the knowledge gained will help them become better directors.

In addition to the trainings, within the project will be held quarterly meetings and annual conferences for directors, where they will have the opportunity to share to their colleagues the knowledge and professional experience acquired through the Academy, and select best ways and opportunities based on their own context.

Millennium Challenge Account-Georgia project has been funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation and carried out by the National Center for Teacher Professional Development with the expert support of IREX, the international consulting company and in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia.