Early Steps to Integration: Bilingual Education in Kindergartens in Georgia

Akhalkalaki, Georgia, August 2024 – Approximately 20 women sit on colourful chairs arranged in a circle in a kindergarten room. They talk animatedly and interchangeably in Georgian, Armenian and English. This is Akhalkalaki Public Kindergarten No. 3, and the women are bilingual teachers who work with children in the Georgian language. They are involved in the bilingual preschool education programme.

The bilingual preschool education programme was launched in 2020 by the Ministry of Education, Science and Youth of Georgia. The programme currently includes 34 kindergartens in the regions densely populated by ethnic minorities - Samtskhe-Javakheti, Kvemo Kartli and Kakheti.

Starting June 2024, UNICEF, in cooperation with the Estonian Centre for International Development, launched a new initiative that aims to improve the quality and access to bilingual education in the early education system in Georgia.

Estonia is a leading country regarding access to quality education and bilingual teaching experiences and learning practices.

Bilingual teachers from different kindergartens are meeting with Estonian experts to share their experiences and achievements from the past three years, their lessons learned, and the challenges they have encountered.

Languages, like everything else in a kindergarten, are taught through play.

"Teaching is like a game; new words and phrases can be made interesting for children so that learning is fun. During the morning gathering, we discuss the seasons of the year, describe what the weather is like. We count how many of us in the group are girls, and how many are boys, and who we are missing," described Alyona Kostanyan, one of the teachers participating in the bilingual education programme in Akhalkalaki, her experience.

"Due to the specificity of our region, the children do not know the Georgian language at all. They speak only Armenian at home and only hear Georgian from me. Therefore, I try to teach them Georgian in a way that gets them to love the language," adds Alyona.

Representatives from UNICEF and the Estonian International Development Fund listen carefully to the teachers' stories. During this visit, they will deliver training sessions in Tbilisi, Akhaltsikhe and Marneuli for the professionals from different institutions who are responsible for the quality of bilingual education in kindergartens.

"Knowing languages gives you the freedom to live your own life, continue your education and choose a profession. It is also crucial for a person's full participation in social life. And kindergarten is the place where we can create the best environment for language learning," says Irene Käosaar, an expert in multilingual education from the Estonian International Development Centre.

"I learned the Georgian language when I was a first-year student at university. My fellow students all spoke Georgian, but I didn't know the language at all. It was a very challenging time for me. Perhaps this experience also contributed to my decision to teach the Georgian language to preschool children. Today, the children learning Georgian from me know it better than I did when I was 18," recalls Hermine Khachoyan, who teaches in Akhalkalaki Kindergarten No. 2, and conducts activities for children in the Georgian language.

Hermine says that the preschool children, who learn Georgian in kindergarten, often end up speaking the national language better than their parents.

The joint project of UNICEF and the Estonian government has two main goals. The project aims to develop comprehensive recommendations and an action plan to ensure quality implementation of bilingual education, as well as to improve the professional capacities of teachers such as Alyona, Hermine and their colleagues. Key activities include an analysis of the current legislative and educational frameworks, a skills development initiative, and professional development programmes on which the next steps will be developed.

Within the framework of the project, the existing curriculum, learning materials, and professional development systems will be analysed in detail. Active work is already underway in 10 pilot kindergartens, vocational schools and Samtskhe-Javakheti State University, in collaboration with central and local authorities. A study visit to Estonia is planned for the specialists and decision makers working on preschool bilingual education in Kvemo Kartli and Samtskhe-Javakheti.

"Quality bilingual education at the preschool level lays the foundation for stronger learning outcomes throughout a child's educational journey. By equipping children with the tools to navigate multiple languages early on, we set them up for greater academic success in school and beyond, ensuring they reach their full potential in higher education and in life," said Jesper Moller, the UNICEF representative in Georgia.

"I believe that all people living in Georgia should know the Georgian language. This is good for both integration into society and continuing education. We have often heard from the schoolteachers that it is easier for the children involved in our programme to continue their education in Georgian in the first grade at schools," says Diana Eprikyan, assistant teacher of the bilingual education programme at Akhalkalaki Kindergarten No. 2.

Quality bilingual education, especially in preschool institutions, is essential for children's cognitive development, their cultural awareness and their social integration. Quality bilingual education helps children from ethnic minorities to be able to communicate in the national language and have equal access to continuous education so that they can fully participate in the social and economic life of the country. Bilingual education also helps create an inclusive environment where cultural diversity is respected, and contributes to children's sense of identity and belonging.

The story was originally written and published by UNICEF Georgia.