From September 29 to October 4, a seminar was held in Kazbegi for pedagogues to lay the foundation for a master’s degree program in speech and language therapy. The seminar led by Portuguese experts Dr. Isabel Amaral and trainer-consultant João Canossa.
Speech and language therapy is not practiced in Georgia, and there are no relevant therapists. Specialists in this field will be educated in Ilia State University within the framework of a two-year master’s degree program.
Foreign experts, who continue to cooperate with the Georgian members of the group on curriculum development, intend to come back to Georgia in spring and summer of 2015. They will also provide their Georgian counterparts with remote consultations.
In line with the project plan, the partnership with Ilia University and foreign experts has already resulted in the development of relevant paperwork on a speech and language therapy master’s degree program and its submission to the National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement under the Ministry of Education for the inclusion of the profession of a speech and language therapist in the national qualifications framework.
The project includes the development of syllabi, research-informed curriculum, clinical practice, readers, and other course materials pertinent to the master’s degree program, as well as the implementation of a pilot certificate program, and others.
The project will be completed in the middle of 2015. It is implemented by the Georgian Portage Association with the financial assistance of Higher Education Support Program at the Open Society – Georgia Foundation.
