The status of special educational needs in Georgia is not a medical diagnosis but the outcome of a legally defined procedure: it is established through psycho-educational assessment, and everything that follows from it — the study format, the class, the teacher's qualifications — rests on rules written in the law. This page explains that procedural side on the basis of the Law on General Education: how the status is determined, which study formats exist, and who must satisfy the requirements of a special teacher.
Psycho-educational assessment — the route to status
The law defines psycho-educational assessment precisely: it is a service rendered by the educational institution's mandate service, within which the person's or pupil's special educational needs are assessed and identified for the purpose of defining them, the best form of education is selected, and consultation connected with the educational process is provided. An important conclusion follows: the basis of the status is the assessment conclusion, not the judgement of a parent or a school; and the conclusion carries the downstream decisions as well — from enrollment to the study format.
The enrollment rule by assessment conclusion
At the enrollment stage the law establishes a special rule: where a person with special educational needs has no educational history or has missed a class or classes for certain reasons, that person has the right, on the basis of a psycho-educational assessment conclusion, to be enrolled in school at the primary or basic level without externate, in a class corresponding to his or her age or in a class no more than 3 grades lower. A person over 18 is enrolled in school in the form determined by the assessment conclusion. This norm settles the cases where the educational line has been interrupted and the formal age does not match the class.
Study formats
The law writes the formats into its definitions. A specialized class is a class of pupils of one age, or with an age difference of no more than 3 years, having homogeneous educational needs. An integrated class is a union of pupils with homogeneous educational needs, enrolled in different classes, of one age or with an age difference of no more than 3 years. A resource school is of two kinds: one — a school intended for pupils with sensory or severe, profound intellectual or multiple disorders, multiple sensory disorders, or behavioural and emotional disorders; the other — a school carrying on general educational activity in accordance with the national curriculum, fully covering the basic or secondary level, while providing pupils with special educational needs, parents and teachers with appropriate programmes and services.
Requirements for a special teacher
For special teachers the law establishes a separate qualification frame: they must satisfy the requirements set by the teacher's professional standard and one additional requirement — for example, a degree awarded on completing an integrated bachelor-master teacher-preparation programme or a master's programme, together with a passed special-teacher examination or an obtained certificate, or a special-teacher preparation module completed within such a programme. For general teachers, too, the law writes alternative routes — various combinations of degree and subject competence — but for special teachers these requirements are more targeted.
What must not be confused
The American special-education statute — IDEA, its concepts and its individual-plan model — is non-Georgian regulation and does not operate in Georgia: here the procedure is governed by the Law on General Education, and the Georgian individual study plan is written precisely within this law's frame. Note also: the assessment conclusion is a document without which neither the choice of format nor the special enrollment rule works.
The teacher’s qualification belongs to the same system: teachers in the positions defined by the law must satisfy the professional standard for teachers and one of the educational conditions — for instance, a master’s degree conferred upon completion of an integrated bachelor-master teacher-preparation programme, with the right to teach the relevant subject of the relevant level.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below we answer the most common questions about special education requirements.
Who determines the special-needs status?
The psycho-educational assessment conclusion — on the basis of the assessment rendered by the mandate service; a school's or parent's judgement is not sufficient.
How is a person with missed classes enrolled?
By the assessment conclusion, without externate — in the age-appropriate class or no more than 3 grades lower; a person over 18, in the form determined by the conclusion.
What differs between a specialized and an integrated class?
A specialized class is a separate class of pupils with homogeneous needs; an integrated class unites pupils enrolled in different classes; in both the age difference does not exceed 3 years.
Who can be a special teacher?
In accordance with the professional standard and an additional requirement — an examination, a certificate or a preparation module.
How We Help on Legal.ge
The Legal.ge team explains the assessment procedure, verifies the correctness of the format following from the conclusion, and assesses the school's duties towards the pupil — from the enrollment rule to the special teacher's requirements. In a written consultation you receive a procedural guide for your case. Contact us through the Legal.ge website.