The project came into being when a number of prominent teachers of English in Georgia approached the British Council to ask for help with the creation of a Teachers' Association.

Client, stakeholders, partners

• Ministry of Education
• Open Society
• Eurasia Foundation
• US Embassy
• Tbilisi State University

Focus
Developing the English Teachers' Association of Georgia and making it a self-sustainable organization.

The project
The project came into being when a number of prominent teachers of English in Georgia approached the British Council to ask for help with the creation of a Teachers' Association. It had been difficult for teachers in Georgia to meet and to have opportunities for training and professional discussions. An association would help address that problem.

A five-year project to develop an English Teachers' Association of Georgia (ETAG), and to make it a sustainable network that covered the country, started in 2001. It consisted of:

• setting up well-equipped and well-managed branches in 9 major towns
• designing training courses and training a team of Georgian trainers.

The project was a great success, its major achievements being:

• The establishment of a strong association of 2,000 teachers. Over 60% of the English teaching population in Georgia are now ETAG members.
• The creation of nine branches, run independently by ETAG. At present it occupies these centres free of charge.
• It has established its own management practices and standards.
• The development of six training courses, to satisfy the needs of both school and university teachers. 
• The creation and training of a core team of trainers for every branch. About 400 teachers are trained annually. 
• The setting up of a dynamic, internet-based network of teachers. This has made communications easier and faster.
• The achievement of the project's main goal: to make ETAG a sustainable and high quality professional organization. Its popularity among ELT teachers of both school and university levels speaks for itself.

What the stakeholders say

• "ETAG is an exemplary professional association. In whatever they do they have high standards; I think other subject teachers should use the British Council experience for setting up subject-based professional associations."
  Simon Janashia, Head of the Curriculum and Assessment Centre, Ministry of Education.
• "This has been an excellent project. ETAG training courses have helped me a lot to improve my professional skills and be a more confident teacher. ETAG is another home for me."
  Nana Shavishvili, teacher, school 53,Tbilisi.

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