"We support the approaches of the government according to which the modern school should be oriented towards educating the students ... All the reforms and implemented activities should serve to improve the quality of teaching-learning process, to the development and education of students and their active integration in civil society ... To fulfill these tasks only teachers can ... We are a union of teachers and we protects the rights of our members and represent their interests at different levels. Consequently, we will cooperate with those political parties and public organizations who will take care of the improvement of the conditions in the education system. In addition, we will be unbreakable and incompatible with those who violate the rights of teachers and trample their dignity ..." - said Marina Shubitidze, head of the ESFTUG’s Vake-Saburtalo Branch Organization during a two-year report.

On June 16, 2018, the reporting conference of the ESFTUG’s Vake-Saburtalo Branch Organization was held at First Experimental Public School, which was attended by the delegates of the conference selected by primary organizations of pre-school institutions and public schools operating in Vake-Saburtalo districts, by the active members, honorable guests and employees of ESFTUG’s Central office. ESFTUG’s President Maia Kobakhidze and lawyer Megi Sakandelidze were presented as delegates at the Vake-Saburtalo Branch Organization’s Conference with the decision of the Primary Trade Union Organization of the ESFTUG’s Central Office.

During the reporting period, Vake-Saburtalo branch organization has been joined by 30 kindergartens’ and 13 public schools’ workers.

In the report of ESFTUG’s Vake-Saburtalo Branch Organization’s head Marina Shubitidze’s accents were made on the past years of ESFTUG, the organizational development period and the achieved results.

Mrs. Marina Shubitidze expressed her gratitude to ESFTUG’s President Maia Kobakhidze for the activities that led to raise the authority of the trade union and improved the labor and legal conditions of the employees in educational institutions.

"Teachers have no fear, the teacher's professional development and career advancement scheme has been improved. ESFTUG provided teachers’ involvement in ongoing reforms in the education system and has begun working that the daily practical results of the teacher have been revealing. Maia Kobakhidze in a number of public speeches, TV debates, meetings with government officials expresses business remarks and proposals for the benefit of teachers, she presents the initiatives which the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia takes into account and expresses its gratitude for this cooperation" - said Marina Shubitidze.

Head of the Vake-Saburtalo Branch Organization spoke about the role and contribution of ESFTUG in the field of facilitating professional development of teachers.

"The old model of professional development of the teacher served to discredit and intimidate the teacher where the teacher's practical and creative activities were ignored and the focus was on the theoretical knowledge, how the teacher owned modern technologies. As a result, some of the beginner teachers successfully passed the certification examination but failed to become a good teacher, failed to manage the classroom and faced problems with students and could not stay at school. In the new scheme all active teachers were engaged and the number one task of ESFTUG became to help the teachers in fulfilling their scheme requirements,"- Marina Shubitidze said and noted that ESFTUG’s Vake-Saburtalo Branch Organization conducted 20 training seminars during past two years in which more than 800 listeners took participation.

Trade union assisted practical teachers of public schools to prove subject and professional competence; It assisted senior teachers to take the model lessons successfully, taking into consideration the scheme requirements, which helped to improve the quality of teaching and learning process. In the intensive mode, the care on the preschool institutions’ staff was going on by training programs for educators, methodologists and other employees.

"... This direction is one of the priority for ESFTUG’s Vake-Saburtalo organization, because the teacher is only a professional when studying. Pedagogical work requires daily care for professional development, meaning that if you want to be a teacher you should be able to qualify and not be satisfied with a successful outcome. Our organization will be working in this direction, but if the teacher is equal to those with socially vulnerable people and if the current level of the teacher's salary remains the same, naturally the desired results could not be achieved ... " - said the head of the Vake-Saburtalo Branch Organization.

Marina Shubitidze's report emphasized the results of the constructive dialogue between the Ministry of Education and Science and ESFTUG, which improved teachers' conditions; Also, list of recreational and cultural mass events for members employed in the educational institutions of Vake-Saburtalo region; Statistics of members’ material assistance in case of their special needs; Organizing ceremonial events; To encourage the children of teachers with Christmas tree tickets; Celebrating Women's and Mother's Days, Attending Rustaveli and Tumanishvili Theater Performances; Celebrating the anniversaries of the union members; Providing teachers with the relaxation programs in summer and winter.

"Our Trade Union demands that the Government of Georgia develop a gradual growth program for teachers' salaries to bring the average salary of the teachers in the next 3-4 years to the average salary of those employed in the budget sector. To achieve this goal, ESFTUG’s president Maia Kobakhidze is fighting for all sides. The strength of union are primary organizations. Increase of our organization's authority depends on the quality of their activity, efficiency and results. Our members welcome the activation of the trade union and consider it as the cornerstone of the democratic governance of the country, but there is still a lot to be done,” – said the speaker and call the delegates and primary organizations’ heads to be more active.

Finally, Marina Shubitidze, head of ESFTUG’s Vake-Saburtalo Branch Organization thanked ESFTUG’s president Maia Kobakhidze, Vice Presidents, coordinator of Vake-Saburtalo Ketevan Vadachkoria and Central Office’s staff for their support and cooperation.

The participants of the conference listened to the four-year report of the activities of the ESFTUG, presented by the ESFTUG’s president Maia Kobakhidze. She focused on the changes made on the initiative of the ESFTUG, the outcome of the results and the ESFTUG’s vision, in the direction of increasing the quality of teaching-learning process in pre-school institutions and the general education system and in the lobbying of the interests of the employed people.

The ESFTUG’s president has named the lowest civilian consciousness and quality of personal freedom as the main problem.

She reminded the delegates that -"strong trade unions are created by personally freely employees." Maia Kobakhidze called delegates to be more activate and engaged. She said that the speakers of the debate should be critical and demanding to the activities of the ESFTUG.

At the conference, the discussion was on topical issues: improvement of teacher's social status and authority, increase of education funding, improvement of labor conditions of kindergartens’ employees and improvement of material-technical base of institutions.

The kindergartens’ employees expressed a special protest against the principle of remuneration in summer kindergartens. In particular, employees in summer kindergartens receive 80% of wages, instead of full-time remuneration. The outgoing delegates talked about the risks associated with the excessive number of children in kindergartens groups.

The conference chose the delegates of the ESFTUG’s congress and positively assessed the activities of the head of ESFTUG’s Vake-Saburtalo Branch Organization.

At the end of the conference, ESFTUG’s President Maia Kobakhidze thanked the Social Partners - Principals of Public Schools and Kindergartens for "Democratic Values and Effective Social Partnership" and for "Special Merits to Trade Union’s Work", diplomas and symbolic gifts were given to active members of the ESFTUG.