Abstract:

The article discusses the importance of career guidance and career planning and emphasizes the importance of professional orientation as a main mechanism in career planning. The article gives an overview of the project “The school as a place of learning a profession” implemented within the framework of Vocational Training and Partnership in the South Caucasus Bildungswerk der Wirtschaft Mecklenburg Vorpommern e.V. funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMZ). Within the scope of the project four private schools were selected in Georgia. Secondary students from these schools visited various companies in Georgia. Professional orientation and career planning consist of services that help students and beneficiaries successfully identify their strengths and weaknesses, interest areas and needs and go through externship in relevant areas. The author of the article emphasizes the importance of the project “The school as a place of learning a profession” for the development of self-esteem, personal formation and informed career choice in young people. The project aims at implementing and developing career guidance in a pilot region. It will facilitate approximation and harmonization of Georgian vocational education to the European system.  As the results of the survey have shown, it is important to prepare students prior to their visits to companies, to increase their awareness on the features and characteristics of the profiling enterprise and give them information about the companies’ activities, which will be unconditionally useful for practical teaching and job testing.

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