Guria. In cooperation with PH International, for the second year the Guria Youth Resource Center implements in Guria the scholarship program for access to the English language. As part of the program, socially poor youngsters learn the English language free of charge with assistance from professional teachers. At the end of December 2012, the graduates of the first group will be revealed. The program will resume from February 2013. Organization of supplemental events of the course once a month is part of the education program, which aims to raise the participants' knowledge of the American culture, history and traditions. The supplemental event held on November 19 aimed to get familiar with the US regions and dialects, and it was attended by the 20 program participants. The event was led by the US Peace Corps volunteer Rachel Evarts working in the Guria Youth Resource Center. The event, which was visited by the US Embassy representative, was of special interest to children.

Imereti. To celebrate the International Day for Tolerance, as part of the Civic Education and Teacher Training Program the schoolchildren of the Kutaisi Public School #12 have organized the discussion on tolerance. After the discussion the schoolchildren split in groups and created the slogans and stands dedicated to the idea of tolerance. Total of 30 schoolchildren have participated in the discussion. For the full text. Source: kedec.ge

Guria. As part of the Civic Education and Teacher Training Program, the joint event was organized at the initiative of civic clubs functioning in the Ozurgeti Public School #1 and the public school of village Bakhvi. At the schools' initiative, the schoolchildren of the Ozurgeti-based center for persons with disabilities have also been involved in the event. As part of the initiative, the youngsters have painted on the asphalt and visited the Ekadia fathers' monastery and residence, which is being currently constructed. Future plans were also agreed at the meeting - the schoolchildren decided to visit the complex in the future as well and contribute to its cleaning and maintenance. The Civic Education and Teacher Training Program is implemented by PH International with funding from the US Agency for International Development. The Guria Youth Resource Center is the program's partner in Guria.

Samtskhe-Javakheti. On November16, the festival planned by the Akhaltsikhe Youth Center and dedicated to the Day for Tolerance was held in the Ninotsminda Municipality. The civic clubs of the Samtskhe-Javakheti schools involved in the Civic Education and Teacher Training Program have participated in it.The festival was rather diverse, where the schools have presented the symbol of a man-tolerance, created posters on the topic of tolerance, exhibited the clothing of various ethnic representatives, and presented the culture and traditions of the specific ethnic group.

Guria. The exhibition of children’s paintings was opened at the initiative of the Ozurgeti Civic Engagement Center on November 16. It was dedicated to the International Day for Tolerance, reflected in the title of the exhibition – "Tolerance – This Is Love”. Up to 15 schoolchildren from Ozurgeti have participated in the exhibition, presenting up to 50 works.The exhibition dedicated to the topic of tolerance will last in the Civic Engagement Center for a week.

Adjara. On November 15, the LEPL Children and Youth National Center functioning under the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs of Georgia has held the information meeting in the conference hall of the Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University with the representatives of Adjara-based NGOs and students, where the project "All Youth Services in One Space” was presented. The web portal was developed as part of the project, through which the youngsters will be able to obtain and search for the necessary materials in a simple way. This project is implemented with the support of the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF. The Web Portal.

Imereti. The training in HIV/AIDS was delivered on November 10 in the Kutaisi Civic Engagement Center for the members of the civic clubs established as part of the Civic Education and Teacher Training Program. The US volunteers participating in the Peace Corps program have acted as trainers. 45 schoolchildren have participated in the training, who will also deliver the trainings of this content in their own schools. For full text. Source: kedec.ge

Tbilisi. On November12 the office of the Caucasus Institute has hosted the workshop on the students’ debates. During the meeting the students of various Tbilisi-based universities got familiar with the rules and topics, under which they will debate on November 25.The meeting was organized by the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development. Student debates are organized as part of the project "Civil Society for Development: Decentralization and Participation in Georgia”, with the financial support of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For full text. Source:participate.ge

Samtskhe-Javakheti. Members of the local school-based clubs are preparing for the contest. The contest of blogs created on civil topics was just announced by the University of Georgia self-government club "Free UG Club”, with the support of PH-International.Only the schoolchildren of 9th-12th grades of the schools participating in the Civic Education and Teacher Training Program can participate in the contest.Nominations of the contest are: young Ombudsman, young volunteer, citizen journalist, advocate of healthy lifestyle, young educator, etc.Monthly evaluations of the jury will be summarized in December, following which the winners will be announced.

Tbilisi. The Consultations and Training Center (CTC) has delivered a cycle of trainings for the schoolchildren of the Abkhazian schools, which aimed to develop leadership skills among children and the key competences.Trainings concerned issues such as the organization and organizational elements; civil society and gender; team and teamwork; mediation, management of conflicts and stress; presentation skills, etc.The trainings were delivered within the framework of the tender announced by the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Abkhazian Autonomous Republic. The participants were awarded with certificates. For full text. Source:ctc.org.ge

Guria. The elections of the schoolchildren's self-governments in public schools for the education year 2012-2013 are over.Members of the component for the development of youth's civil awareness of the Young Teachers' Union of Ozurgeti have organized pre-election information meetings in order for the schoolchildren of partner schools to hold the elections properly. Partner schools are: in the Ozurgeti Municipality - villages: Baileti, Gurianta, Dvabzu, GaghmaDvabzu, Vakijvari, Nasakirali, Naruja, Laituri; in the Chokhatauri Municipality - villages: Khidistavi, Buknari; in the Lanchkhuti Municipality - villages: Supsa, Lesa; in the Kobuleti Municipality – 13 public schools. The organization's office has hosted the workshop for already registered candidates to membership on the importance of pre-election agendas and rules for their preparation.At the current stage the schoolchildren's self-government structure in the listed schools is already elected and established, and the information seminars are underway concerning the functions of the schoolchildren's self-government.

KvemoKartli. On November 8, the Georgian Association of Education Initiatives (SIQA) has organized the meeting in the Marneuli Civic Engagement Center between the members of civic clubs of the Azerbaijani schools based in KvemoKartli and the Public Defender's representative and his assistant.68 representatives from the schools in Jandari, Marneuli #1, #3, #7, #8, Kapanakhchi, Nakhiduri, Tazakendi, Chapala, and Algeti (total of 10 Azerbaijani schools) have attended the meeting. Discussed at the meeting was the situation on protection of fundamental human rights in Georgia and specifically in the KvemoKartli Region. For full text  Source: SIQA's page in the social network.

Samtskhe-Javakheti.The public schools of Samtskhe-Javakheti involved in the Civic Education and Teacher Training Program have organized a conference on November 8, Ilia Chavchavadze's birthday, topic of which was: "Ilia - as a citizen and public activist". The Akhaltsikhe Youth Center has announced a contest on this topic in advance. The jury members have selected 15 best works out of 37 contest submissions, and the topics were presented in the assembly hall of the Borjomi Municipality Sakrebulo.To raise their level of literacy, three winner pupils were awarded with the textbooks, while all conference participants have received the certificates.The conference aimed to have the civic club members discuss Ilia Chavchavadze's civic duties and activities, and express their own opinion on the work of Ilia.The video was shown during the conference, which has provided additional information to the participants and the audience on Ilia's work.

Kakheti. On November 9 Telavi hosted the final debates tournament with participation of school-based civic clubs from 8 municipalities of Kakheti, which have advanced in the debates tournament. Winner schools have competed in the final for the title of the Kakhetian champion. The debates were held concerning the following topics: safe school, children’s rights, exam reform. Team from the Public School #2 of the Akhmeta Municipality was the overall winner of the debates.The debates tournament took place over the last education year, with participation of 57 partner schools of the Civic Education and Teacher Training Program in Kakheti. Representatives of the Young Lawyers’ Association have also participated in the tournament and the final game.At the end of the final game each team was awarded with the cup and a certificate, while the representatives of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association have presented civic education vocabularies to the schoolchildren. For full text. Source: civics.ge

Imereti. As part of the Civic Education and Teacher Training Program, the civic club of the Kutaisi-based Public School #40 "From the Future" has organized in the school the movie-screening week. Movies were shown over three days, attended by up to 70 schoolchildren including the pupils of Public School #40, as well as from the other Kutaisi-based target schools of the program. The movies have ended in respective discussions. For full text. Source: kedec.ge

ShidaKartli.  At the invitation of the Head of the Bureau of the Civil Panel Mariam Tskipurishvili, the civic club members of ShidaKartli have visited the Tbilisi City Court on November 8. The study visit was organized as part of the "Civic Education and Teacher Training Program" and aimed at getting familiar with the court structure and its activities.Schoolchildren from ShidaKartli were hosted by Mariam Tskipurishvili and Ilia Devidze, who have guided them on a brief tour through the court rooms and the jury deliberation room, explained the difference between the small and large size courtrooms, how are the jury members selected and what are their obligations. In addition, the students have visited the working rooms of the administration, each bureau and panel, and the parties to the dispute. Afterwards the visitors moved to the conference hall, where the topics of interest to children were discussed: principles of the court organization, activities of the court administration, activities of the bureaus and division of the panels; further, the schoolchildren received detailed information on the obligations of judges and attorneys, the school of justice and the internship program.The civil club members have attended the court hearing as well concerning the civil dispute on compensation of damages.The civic clubs received from Ms. Tskipurishvili the civic education vocabularies as a gift and were invited to attend the next jury trial selection hearing.

KvemoKartli. Another training of the club "Skills for Professional Success" was delivered in SIQA on November10. It was delivered by the invited trainer, psychologist and social worker. Discussed at the meeting were violence and its forms, real facts of violence and the ways for eliminating it.The club "Skills for Professional Success" functions with the Georgian Association of Education Initiatives (SIQA) since March 24. Youngsters of 18-25 years of age are involved in the club's activities. For full text. Source: the club's page in the social network.

Imereti. As part of the Civic Education and Teacher Training Program (implemented by PH-International and funded by USAID), Nino Gelashvili and LikaMoshiashvili have delivered in the office of teh Kutaisi Education, Development and Employment Center the training in social media for schoolchildren of the program's target schools from the Imereti Region, attended by 13 pupils of the 9th, 10th and 11th grades. The training aimed to deliver knowledge on the social media and develop skills within the target groups of the project, which will help the youngsters in the future to acknowledge the role of the social media in the mobilization of the youth and general public for the advocacy of various topics. Training participants were informed about the dissemination of information and receipt of feedback through the social media, as well as the registration and management of blogs.The participants have carried out practical exercise by registering their blogs.

Tbilisi. The Active Students' Association (ASA) launches the project "Week of Active Lectures", which will involve the university students. They will be sent to the schools of Georgia and deliver training-lectures on various topics for the schoolchildren, and in case of relevant interest - for the teachers.Students interested in participation must send their CV and photo until November 21 to the following account: asalectures@gmail.com For full text. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Adjara. The Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development has organized on November 3 a workshop in Batumi on the student debate issues. Students of the Batumi-based ShotaRustaveli State University have attended the meeting, at which the students got familiar with the rules of the debates and the topics that will be debated at the end of November.Student debates are organized as part of the project "Civil Society for Development: Decentralization and Participation in Georgia", with the financial support of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Source: participate.ge

Tbilisi.A seminar for journalists on violence against children will be held on November 19 in the office of the "Open Society – Georgia" Foundation, as part of the program "East-East without Borders". Psychologist KetevanTavartkiladze from the Georgian Foundation for Public Health and Development of Medicine will lead the seminar. The seminar will focus on the following issues: violence in the eyes of a child - what do children say, think and feel about themselves, adults and life; impact of violence on a child's development and well-being; the society's role in protecting the children from violence; media and children: how should the child violence issues be covered without damaging the children themselves. For full text. Source:osgf.ge

Guria. On November 7 the Ozurgeti Civic Engagement Center has organized a public discussion on the kindergarten issues.Discussed at the meeting were the strategic planning issues, developed by the not-for-profit legal entity "Pre-School Education Center" based on consultations with the NGO "Young Scientists' Club of Ozurgeti".Representatives of the Center for Education Institutions of the Ozurgeti Municipality, NGOs and general public have participated in the discussion.