Azerbaijan, World Bank explore best practice to raise education

As the world experience expands, there is a need to adapt education in Azerbaijan to the requirements of the modern era. Although a number of important steps have been taken in this direction, it is undeniable that there is still a lot of work to be done.

The Minister of Education and Science, Emin Amrullayev, met with the World Bank's Country Manager for Azerbaijan, Stefanie Stallmeister. It was reported that during the meeting, the current status of relations and prospects for cooperation between the Ministry of Education and Science and the World Bank were discussed.

Given the World Bank has provided financial support in business development and other fields in Azerbaijan, if this is the case, the question arises, what issues were discussed in the field of development of Azerbaijani education at this meeting?

Speaking to Azernews education expert Kamran Asadov noted that the World Bank is an institution that can directly influence and impact the education system worldwide in every sense of the word.

“The World Bank is an institution that directs all education reforms happening worldwide, providing support towards achieving their goals. Azerbaijan has participated in several international grant projects of the World Bank, and I consider this meeting to be quite significant. Because of the Ministry of Education and Science currently oversees the development of science in Azerbaijan directly. I believe that the meeting with the World Bank will have a positive impact on increasing the international competitiveness of higher education in Azerbaijan.”

According to him, the education system of Azerbaijan has been internationally evaluated for more than 20 years now.

“It means that Azerbaijan actively participates in PISA, TIMMS, and other international assessments. In this regard, the World Bank can also express its position on economic indicators in Azerbaijan. That is, if we achieve good results in international assessments, it directly relates to economic indicators.”

The expert believes that during the meeting with the World Bank, there will be more agreement and activity regarding the increase in international competitiveness of higher education, and the advancement of Azerbaijani universities in international rankings will be particularly emphasized.

"I believe that the World Bank has a particular stance, especially regarding community-based educational institutions. That is, today the World Bank is interested in expanding the coverage and ensuring the accessibility of community-based education in Azerbaijan. You may know that currently there are 1693 kindergartens and nursery houses operating in Azerbaijan, covering only 30-35 percent of all children. However, the World Bank has set targets for these figures to exceed 50 percent in Azerbaijan. This will encourage the opening of new kindergartens and nursery houses in regions, as well as community-based educational institutions."

Asadov thinks that within the framework of cooperation with the World Bank, there is a need for new reforms in the education sector in Azerbaijan.

"I believe that in this meeting, new content standards for the curriculum in Azerbaijan, as well as the issue of teaching new subjects, will emerge, and I expect positive changes from these. This is because there are studies for the implementation of significant reforms in the education system by the World Bank. That is, today, the most serious and best research in the field of education worldwide is conducted through the World Bank. Even when we access their website, we can see the most serious research, statistics, and data. Therefore, we can benefit from their experience, especially in improving the quality of secondary schools, as well as the international competitiveness and development of higher education."

He stressed that after this meeting, a new stage in the development of higher education in Azerbaijan may begin.

"Especially, there is an issue of monitoring in secondary general education schools. That is, there are good researches in the World Bank regarding the formation of modern knowledge and skills in students, and I believe that we can use the approach of the World Bank in international assessments in monitoring exams. In Azerbaijan, today there is more assessment of the state examination center. For instance, in the entrance and exit exams, there are also assessments by the State Examination Center, which is under the Ministry of Education. However, there are various assessment tools for evaluating and measuring the quality of education, and these are available in the World Bank. For example, even during the most critical periods, such as students' attitudes towards subjects and their application of acquired knowledge, etc. For example, currently in Azerbaijan, exams only assess knowledge. There are no exams assessing skills. However, in the assessment of the World Bank, there are test samples related to the assessment of new skills, and I believe that new assessment tools can be implemented in Azerbaijan in the coming years, and we can benefit from the World Bank's experience in this field."