ComCom: Media Literacy Projects had a Total of 30,000 Beneficiaries in 2024

According to the 2024 Activity Report of the Communications Commission, ComCom has been implementing various projects to raise awareness about media literacy in the society for many years. Between 2019 and 2024, ComCom trained 16,200 pupils, 6,000 teachers and 1,800 students in order to develop their media literacy skills, as well as critical and logical thinking. A total of 980 seminars and informational sessions were held, while the Digital Support Programme, which aims to develop digital skills among local residents in the regions, had more than 6,200 beneficiaries. The total number of participants in media literacy projects and programmes reached 30,200 by the end of last year. 

One of the most important media literacy projects is Integration of Media Literacy into Formal Education. The project is being implemented by the Communications Commission with the support of UNICEF and the Ministry of Education, Science and Youth of Georgia. As part of the project, the Commission conducted a study of media literacy needs and developed an educational standard, a training module and a textbook, which has been used to train 2,300 teachers across Georgia. As a result, 6 schools started teaching media literacy as a separate elective subject in 2023. This number increased to 227 in 2024, with 90% being regional schools. 

Among other projects, the report also discusses UNESCO's Media and Information Literacy Week, which the Communications Commission participates in every year. As part of the 2024 Media and Information Literacy Week, Media Literacy Day was celebrated in schools across Georgia, and an information campaign was conducted on social media to encourage critical thinking and combat disinformation. 

As part of the 2024 Media and Information Literacy Week, the Communications Commission held the first edition of the Media Literacy Olympiad, which was open to teams composed of 1-5 and 6-12 grade students, each led by one teacher. The teams had to answer the question “How do we deal with disinformation?" in the format of their choice. An unprecedented number of schools showed interest in the contest. The Commission received submissions from more than 500 teams involving around 2,800 pupils and 450 teachers. The submissions were assessed by a competent jury panel, which selected the most creative and informative works in both age categories. The winning teams represented the Saint George International School in Tbilisi and Public School N45 in Kutaisi. The Communications Commission fitted out the winning schools with modern media labs to help them create high-quality media products. In addition, the winners received high-tech prizes such as laptops, interactive whiteboards, microphones, LED lighting, mobile tripods, banners and desks. 

The Communications Commission is implementing more than 10 projects to develop media literacy, and will actively continue to do so in the future.