School leadership
2.1. Leadership standards and roles
2.2. Selection and working conditions
2.3. Leadership preparation and training
3. Teachers, parents and students
3.1. School management committees and boards
4.1. Autonomy of school leaders
4.2. Assessment and accountability of school leaders
4.3. Teacher assessment by school leaders
1. Terminology
The English version of Georgia’s 2005 Law on General Education (as amended in 2010) uses the term “principal” to describe school leaders. In the definitions, the term “administration” is defined as, “a school principal, his/her deputy/deputies and an accounting department.”
However, the Georgian word as written in the Public School Principal’s Standard pronounced direkt’ori and written as დირექტორი, more closely resembles the word “director.” For this profile, the term “principal” will be used as it was the term chosen for the official English language translation.
2. School principals
2.1. Leadership standards and roles
Competency standards and leadership frameworks and guidelines
The Public School Principal’s Standard was approved and attached with Order No. 109/N of September 26, 2022. The Standards lists required competencies and the knowledge and skills, professional values and obligations of the public school principal. The role, functions, responsibilities and duties of the school principal are also described. The function of the standards is to support principals in improving students’ personal development and academic achievements; enhance learning-focused interaction; develop a unique school culture; improve the management of school personnel and resources; and ensure self-assessment and professional development by directors. The standards serve as a legal framework for regulating the director's activities and professional development. The concept of the Public-School Principal's Standard considers the school head as an instructional and organizational leader, who fully recognizes and realizes the principles of shared leadership.
The Functions of the school principal are also described in the 2005 Law on General Education (as amended in 2010).
Roles
Principals in Georgia are expected to play various roles in their positions. They serve as a role model for the school community, creators of school culture, educational leaders, human resources managers and administrative leaders.
Setting expectations/objectives: According to the Public School Principal’s Standard, the principal develops the school’s educational mission and vision. They are responsible for promoting the vision of the school community's future, based on common goals and values based on the context and specificity of the school and with the participation of the school community. The principal also develops the school’s strategic development and action plans, while considering the priorities and interests of the school community and the involved parties. Aware of the cyclical nature of these plans, the principal has a methodology for monitoring and evaluating the strategic development and action plans. Taking into account the feedback of the school community, the principal continues to work on further developing the institution. The 2005 Law on General Education (as amended in 2010) states that the principal prepares the school’s internal regulations and the statute of the school, which is then approved by the Board of Trustees.
Developing teaching and learning: One of the main functions of the school principal, according to the 2005 Law on General Education (as amended in 2010), is to supervise the study and tutoring processes at the school. According to the Public School Principal’s Standard, the main goal of the principal as a leader is to effectively manage the processes for the education, academic and personal development of students. As an educational leader, the principal promotes the introduction of student-oriented pedagogical approaches in the school and focuses on student achievements and progress. They also ensure the mobilization of resources to achieve the desired results. Through the efforts of the principal, curriculum design and development methodology is provided, which creates the basis for shared responsibility, initiative, and participation. Subject curriculums should be based on national standards and utilize differentiated, inclusive approaches. The curriculum may be revised and improved upon based on monitoring and evaluation results.
Promoting collaboration: One of the main components of leadership, according to the Public School Principal’s Standard, is the principal’s ability to develop a positive school culture together with the school community. To do this, the principal must develop and maintain a sustainable system of cooperation, partnership and connections. They build constructive and respectful relationships between employees, students, parents and other stakeholders. Through the principal’s efforts, the school should have communication strategies and tools for communicating with stakeholders and various interested parties.
Supporting staff development: As an administrative leader, the principal of the school provides support for the professional development of teachers at the school. According to the Public School Principal’s Standard, the principal creates an organizational system of professional orientation and career development support for their staff members. They create a plan for staff development in accordance with the identified needs of staff members. They also create and maintain an effective professional learning community.
Acting in accordance with the ethical principles of the profession: The 2005 Law on General Education (as amended in 2010) explicitly mentions the Code of Ethics for School Principals in its definitions, defining it as “a set of rules of conduct for school principals.”
Others: The Public School Principal’s Standard places focus on the principal’s knowledge of modern technologies and asks that the principal use information technology in the process of academic achievement of students and school management.
2.2. Selection and working conditions
Degree requirements and prior teaching experience
The 2005 Law on General Education (as amended in 2010) states that the school principal may be elected or appointed if they are a citizen of Georgia, have higher education, and have three years of working experience which include at least one year of teaching experience in the field of education.
Appointment decision
Principals in Georgia are nominated by the Ministry of Education and Science through a competitive selection process. The procedures for holding the selection competition including the timeframe and complaints process are also determined by the Ministry of Education and Science.
The public school’s Board of Trustees makes the final decision to appoint the principal.
The appointment/election of school principal is regulated by The Law on General Education and the Order of the Minister of Education and Science of Georgia “on the approval of the procedure for holding the public-school principal's selection competition” (Order #25/N of February 2011). This was revised in accordance with Order No. 36/N of the Minister of Education, Science and Youth of Georgia dated February 15, 2024 "on establishing the procedure for holding the public school principal's selection competition".
In order to increase the scope of the selection competition for principals and promote inclusiveness and flexibility of the process, the appointment process now goes through the following stages:
Instead of the previous two-stage method which included separate certification (testing, interview) and a separate additional interview with the School Board, an applicant will now be given the opportunity to pass the test and only one interview. In addition, under the new approach, all persons with valid certificates will be allowed to participate in the competition directly at the interview stage without undergoing testing. It is important that participation in the competition is free.
In order to be submitted to the School Board, the candidate has to register electronically immediately after the announcement of the competition and indicate no more than three public schools where he/she wants to be nominated by the commission as a candidate for school principal. The test is provided by the Education Management Information System (EMIS) in accordance with the rules and conditions established by the individual administrative-legal act of the Minister. A candidate for the position of principal will be admitted to the interview if he/she passes the minimum competence threshold established by the administrative-legal act of the Minister. If the candidate successfully passes the test, she/he will be interviewed by the commission/commissions created by the individual administrative-legal act of the Minister and will present the vision of the strategic development of the school/schools specified during registration. As mentioned, the candidate is exempted from testing, if she/he has a valid certificate proving that he/she has obtained the right to be a principal. The mentioned persons indicate the three preferred public schools within the time limits set for registration and join the competition at the interview stage.
The candidates will be submitted for selection only to those School Boards that were indicated by the candidates during the electronic registration. The board of trustees elects the public school principal by the majority of the members, for a term of 6 years, from among the candidates nominated by the ministry. The Minister of Education and Science has the discretionary right to appoint a school principal, including a non-certified person if the board of trustees cannot elect a certified candidate.
Employment equity measures
The 2005 Law on General Education (as amended in 2010) protects the rights of minorities and states that any discrimination is inadmissible. Schools must observe and facilitate tolerance and mutual respect among pupils, parents and teachers irrespective of their social, ethnic, religious, linguistic and world-view affiliations. The ministries of education of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Adjara register their public-school principals. When the Board of Trustees elects the school principal, the process must be free and equal.
There are no equity measures specifically aimed towards principals.
Working conditions
Principals are elected or appointed for a term of six years. Each principal may serve at the same school for only two consecutive terms. Salaries are determined by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports on a regular basis. Currently, the minimum salary and conditions for remuneration for teachers of public schools are determined under order No. 108/N of the Minister of Education, Science and Youth of Georgia. The principal’s salary depends on the number of students in the school and the school’s budget. As of 2023, the average monthly salary of a public school director was 1030 GEL.
2.3. Leadership preparation and training
Pre-service training
The Public School Principal’s Standard is used for the selection of the principal. Professional development training for public school principals includes the following topics and issues: human resource management and labor relations; administration of the educational process; administrative proceedings, control and accountability; disposal and control of material resources; implementation of state procurement; Financial management and control.
Pre-service provision for school principals includes two main types: certification preparation courses and academic programs. Certification preparation courses, offered by some private and public institutions as well as various organizations, are short, fee-based, and focused on preparing candidates for principal certification exams without formal completion requirements. In contrast, academic programs in education administration and management, provided by public and private higher education institutions, are typically free of charge in public universities and span 4 semesters (2 years). These programs prepare graduates for administrative roles, including school principal positions, through a comprehensive academic curriculum.
Training courses included modules in professional and general skills, legislative framework and other. Training modules are mainly based on the basic principles of the Public-School Principal's Standard. Accredited programs in Education Administration (120 ECTS) provided by 9 universities in Georgia. Pre-service provision in HE is regulated by the Law on Higher Education, the Law on Education Quality Enhancement, and the National Qualifications Framework and Learning Fields Classifier.
Induction and in-service training
Principals are required to keep up with professional development. The Public School Principal’s Standard creates a legal framework, a unified vision for the regulation of the principal's activities and professional development. The standards are used to evaluate the director's competence and activities as well as plan the principal’s professional development.
School leaders have the opportunity to deepen their knowledge, competencies and skills through formal and in-formal in-service professional development. The formal in-service professional development is mostly provided by the Ministry of Education and Science (MoES) and its agency- the National Center for Teachers Professional Development (TPDC). Various international and donor organizations support some projects and programs that consider the professional development of school leaders.
Key topics and concepts covered within the in-service provision usually are as follows: Characteristics of the 21st-century classroom; Effective school management, management of time, finances and human resources; Improvement of student-centered learning environment; Development of study topics; Introduction of innovative and interactive methods in the school; Implementation of a long-term development-oriented monitoring and evaluation system; Developing of learning communities; Using new technologies in schools; Leadership; Gender and social inclusion; Classroom management strategies; and many more.
3. Teachers, parents and students
3.1. School management committees and boards
The 2005 Law on General Education (as amended in 2010) defines the “Board of Trustees” as the highest elective body of the school self-government. Chapter VII of the law sets the rules for the composition as well as the responsibilities of the board. According to this chapter, the Board of Trustees should have six to twelve representatives elected for a term of three years. Members include representatives from the parents and the teacher council, one representative from the self-government of pupils of the secondary education level, one member appointed by the Ministry of Education and Science, and for an institution carrying out military training, one additional member from the Ministry of Defense. The local self-government body and the confirmed benefactor of the school may also nominate a member of the board. The number of parent members must equally represent each educational level of the school. Elections are held on the basis of equality, by secret ballot. The board elects a chairperson who represents the school in relations with the school principal.
The first elections of the Board of Trustees is organized by the Ministry of Education and Science, who also has the power to dismiss the Board of Trustees without notice. Each year, the board meets at least three times, once at the beginning of each term. Functions of the board include: electing a school principal who has been nominated and registered by the Ministry of Education and Science; approving the school budget upon the recommendation of the school principal; approving the school’s internal regulations; agreeing on the school curriculum; controlling the expenditure of funds; review complaints.
3.2. Middle leaders
The Teacher's Professional Development and Career Advancement Scheme approved by Resolution No. 390 in 2020 introduced a unified system of professional development and career advancement of teachers. It mentions several middle leaders including senior teachers, leading teachers, and mentor teachers. Hierarchically, the lowest status among teacher statuses is the senior teacher status. These titles are granted once the teacher has passed the threshold set by the Minister of Education and Science. For a senior teacher, this is granted once the teacher has passed the examination for the appropriate subject. Leading teachers and mentor teachers must also pass a subject test and undergo a complex evaluation which includes external observation, portfolio assessment, self-evaluations, and community interviews. The interviews with members of the school community are aimed at evaluating the professional responsibility of the teacher in the direction of taking care of his and his colleagues' professional development, as well as evaluating the component of the teacher's cooperation with the parents/legal representatives of the students. The teacher's portfolio is evaluated based on the documents confirming the fulfillment of the obligation stipulated by the teacher's standard. This process is temporarily suspended until January 1, 2025.
3.3. Parents
Article 11 of the 2005 Law on General Education (as amended in 2010) gives parents the right to participate in school governance personally or through an elected representative. They also have the right to have the ability to express their opinions and participate personally or through representatives in resolving issues related to them that are under consideration by the school. A Parents and Teacher Council is mentioned several times in legislation, though no details were provided.
3.4. Students
Article 11 of the 2005 Law on General Education (as amended in 2010) gives pupils the same rights as parents and teachers in school governance participation including the right to have the ability to express their opinions and participate personally or through representatives in resolving issues related to them that are under consideration by the school. They also have the right to obtain any information from the school. No action shall be taken against the pupils without observing their genuine interest. The Law refers to the representative group of pupils as the “self-government of pupils,” stating that “a self-government of pupils is a body elected under this Law and the statute of a school and represents the structural unit of the school.” Members of the body are elected by pupils at basic and secondary educational levels and led by a chairperson. Responsibilities of the self-government of pupils include: developing recommendations regarding internal regulations of a school, submitting suggestions to the Board of Trustees regarding important issues; electing a representative to the Board of Trustees; participating in the disposal of grants; and establishing school clubs.
4. Governance
4.1. Autonomy of school leaders
Officially, the school principal has autonomy in management issues (staff, financial, institutional and content management). The principal is responsible for the elaboration of the draft budget with the participation and involvement of the school community and presenting it to the board of trustees for approval. The principal is accountable to the Board of Trustees for spending the approved budget. The principal is responsible for the selection and professional development of teachers.
According to the 2005 Law on General Education (as amended in 2010), the school principal is responsible for allocating funds in the school budget which is then approved by the Board of Trustees of the institution. The principal is limited in how much the budget can change; they may not move more than 10% from one line to the other without approval from the Board of Trustees.
The principal also participates in drawing up the school curriculum alongside the Teacher Council. They also draw up the staff list, concluding and fulfilling agreements with teachers and other school personnel. Principals also have the right to terminate a labor agreement with a school teacher.
4.2. Assessment and accountability of school leaders
If the school principal fails to perform his/her official duties, they must be dismissed, and the information is registered in the Education Management Information System. The Public School Principal’s Standard serves as the evaluation measure for school principals’ competencies.
The third generation National Curriculum implementation program also introduced a school quality external evaluation. The external mechanism for evaluating the functioning of the school and, accordingly, the school principal, is the authorization standard, which includes 4 components: 1. School philosophy; 2. School curriculum; 3. Administrative and infrastructural support of the educational process; and 4. Student support. Currently, in close cooperation with the World Bank, work on the establishment of a national assessment system is underway. This system considers the assessment of students' achievements in various subjects at the end of the mandatory (primary and basic) levels of education.
4.3. Teacher assessment by school leaders
Principals do support their staff members by planning for their professional development, and offering mentoring, and career support. The Public School Principal’s Standard asks principals to identify the training needs of the school’s teachers. The Teacher's Professional Development and Career Advancement Scheme states that the director of the general educational institution observes the teacher's activities (including the teaching process), and evaluates and gives developmental feedback through formative assessments. The director does classroom observations and is required to hold more hours of classroom observations depending on the teacher’s professional level. This scheme is currently temporarily suspended until January 1, 2025.
This profile was reviewed by Giorgi Machabeli, Internal Institute for Education Policy, Planning and Management - EPPM.
