HIV Prevention Interventions for Most-at-Risk Populations (HIV-MARPS)

The program builds on the progress made under the Applied Civic Education and Teacher Training Program (ACETT) and seeks to expand and institutionalize secondary school civics education curricula and practical applications. PH International will work with the Ministry of Education and Science and other stakeholders to expand the reach of USAID's civic education activities to another 20% of secondary schools throughout the country. The program will introduce additional approaches or variations to promoting applied learning by students in school civics classes, seeking to find the best approach or combination of approaches for maximizing the translation of learning into action. The program will include schools in all 11 regions of Georgia and will partner with regional NGOs to take advantage of their knowledge of regional differences and approaches to mobilizing collaboration among young people, civil society, local authorities, and other stakeholders. PH International will accomplish the results by an integrated set of program activities that include working with 480 schools across 11 regions to engage teachers, students, and communities as partners in civic education and practice, updating and delivering a modern teacher training course for civics teachers, updating and delivering supplemental textbooks, and introducing varied approaches that encourage and support students in applying their civics lessons into practice in their schools and communities. During the program's first quarter in year 4, the following outputs were produced by the MT program: partner NGOs worked with MT partner schools in their respective regions and provided support in developing next academic year action plans of civics classroom projects and school-based civics clubs; NGOs finalized MT program final reports, provided final data of students and beneficiaries involved in MT activities, and concluded program Financial and Cost Share reports; and a mini-grant competition was announced, which is open to all schools throughout Georgia. The Civic Education Teachers' Forum (CETF) was awarded a grant from the Teachers' Professional Development Center and currently implements the project to train teachers in project-based teaching. CETF also made a survey to assess recent changes to Teachers' Professional Development and Career Advancement Scheme within the framework of the Coalition for Education for All Georgia program. The MT program's activities were covered by TV stations, print media, and internet sites. The program's implementation will be managed from PH's Country Office in Tbilisi, with contractual relationships with USAID managed from PH International's US-based headquarters located in Waitsfield, Vermont. The program will be supported by an Advisory Committee that will provide structured inputs from USAID, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Civics Teachers' Forum, teachers, and students. PH International will work closely with its Georgian partner, the Center for Training and Consultancy (CTC), to accomplish the program objectives of the MT program. The program's experienced civics education team assembled under ACETT will continue on this project, bringing strong relationships as well as intimate knowledge of the purpose, goals, and approaches to be used in the MT program.