Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Support Program | DOS GEO 24 003 04302024

Opportunity Information: Apply for DOS GEO 24 003 04302024

The Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Support Program 2024 is a discretionary grant opportunity announced by the Public Diplomacy Section (PDS) of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi. It is designed specifically for Georgian TVET institutions to propose and run projects that strengthen vocational education in ways that better connect learners to real labor market opportunities. Applications must be submitted by email to TbilisiGrants@state.gov no later than July 1, 2024, at 1800 (local time). The funding opportunity number is DOS GEO 24 003 04302024, and it falls under the education activity category (CFDA 19.900). The program anticipates making two awards, with an award ceiling of up to $100,000 per award.

The program is grounded in Georgia's broader TVET reform agenda, which aims to support socio-economic development, reduce poverty, and build a stronger workforce aligned with labor market demand. While prior reforms have largely focused on identifying workforce needs and reducing the mismatch between skills supply and employer demand, the opportunity highlights persistent structural challenges that still limit TVET's impact. These challenges include high urban unemployment, widespread self-employment that often reflects underemployment in subsistence agriculture, and ongoing difficulties for employers who report trouble finding qualified staff even in a high-unemployment environment. The opportunity also emphasizes that young people, and especially young women, can face obstacles when trying to transition from education to work, including employer preferences for higher levels of education, requirements for prior work experience, weak trust in vocational qualifications, and skills mismatches.

A major theme of the grant is gender equity and inclusion within TVET. The opportunity describes a significant gender imbalance across vocational fields, shaped by cultural expectations and stereotypes about "appropriate" jobs for women and men. This can push women away from traditionally male-dominated and potentially higher-paying trades (such as engineering, manufacturing, construction, and some service occupations) and can similarly discourage men from entering fields culturally coded as female-dominated (such as education, health, and welfare). The grant frames these patterns as a barrier not only to fairness, but to Georgia's overall workforce participation and economic development, because they limit people from pursuing careers based on aptitude and opportunity.

Another core issue the program seeks to address is the social stigma surrounding TVET, which the notice links to lingering perceptions from the Soviet era. TVET is often not viewed as a first-choice pathway and may be perceived as leading to low-status, manual, or poorly paid work. The notice also points to low employer trust in vocational qualifications, reinforcing the need for TVET institutions to build credibility and stronger linkages to employment outcomes. Alongside this, the opportunity underscores weaknesses in vocational counseling and career planning services. Even where reforms have begun, career guidance remains basic in many cases due to limited staffing, which leaves students and families without enough information to make well-informed education and career decisions. Weak counseling then feeds into weak job search support and job intermediation, particularly for first-time labor market entrants.

The program lists four main objectives that proposed projects should directly support. First, it aims to develop systematic vocational counseling and career guidance that spans from school through higher education and serves learners, jobseekers, and alumni, helping them make better-informed career decisions and improving access to employment. Second, it prioritizes mainstreaming gender in TVET by integrating gender considerations into policy planning, implementation, and evaluation at all levels, rather than treating gender as a side topic. Third, it seeks to increase female participation in formerly male-dominated TVET programs while also promoting nontraditional TVET pathways to both female and male students, specifically to overcome discriminatory norms and community practices and ensure equal access to opportunities. Fourth, it focuses on strengthening the capacity of TVET providers to recruit and retain students in ways that reduce gender disparities, meaning institutions should be prepared to address both entry barriers (recruitment) and persistence barriers (retention and completion).

Eligibility is limited to Georgian public and private authorized TVET institutions, and projects must be proposed and managed by these institutions. The announcement also encourages proposals from regional TVET institutions and explicitly notes that public-private partnerships are encouraged, signaling an interest in stronger collaboration with employers and industry stakeholders. Overall, the opportunity is positioned as a practical, outcomes-oriented effort to improve career guidance systems, reduce gender-based barriers, and strengthen the credibility and inclusiveness of TVET so that graduates are better prepared to find work and employers can more readily find the talent they need.

• The U.S. Mission to Georgia in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Support Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.900.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-04-30.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-07-01. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $100,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 2 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for DOS GEO 24 003 04302024

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