On October 28, a cooperation agreement was signed between the Education Development Fund, the Education Quality Assurance Agency and six higher education institutions “Encouraging academic staff of universities and students to take the IELTS exam”.

Speaking at the event, Mukhtar Mammadov, Deputy Minister of Science and Education expressed the importance of improving the English language in higher education institutions. The Deputy Minister noted that it will serve to write high-quality scientific articles, ensure active participation in important interstate academic projects, use the experience of leading countries by the academic staff, and ultimately achieve significant progress on the “Competitive human capital and space for modern innovations” component of the “2022─2026 Socio-Economic Development Strategy of the Republic of Azerbaijan”.

Speaking later, Elnur Nasibov, Chairman of the Board of Education Development Fund, informed the event participants about the general activity, strategic goals, as well as other initiatives of the Fund that are currently being completed. Elnur Nasibov mentioned that this project is an important component for the partnership of the Fund with higher education institutions, supporting universities in preparing scientific journals, publications, and textbooks and the implementation of academic mobility programs.

Chairperson of the Executive Board of Education Quality Assurance Agency, Ulker Sattarova noted in her speech that knowledge of foreign languages, especially English, is important in the development of science and education at the present, and said that the main goal of the mentioned project is to create favorable conditions for teachers and students of higher education institutions to master the language.

Nargiz Hajiyeva, Country Director of the British Council for Azerbaijan, gave a speech and informed the guests about the programs and successes achieved by the Council during its 30-year activity in Azerbaijan.

Later, Elchin Babayev, Rector of Baku State University, Mustafa Babanli, Rector of Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University, Jafar Jafarov, Rector of Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University, Vilayat Valiyev, Rector of Azerbaijan Technical University and Gulchohra Mammadova, Rector of Azerbaijan Architecture and Construction University that are the beneficiary organizations of the project gave speeches. It should be noted that within the framework of the mentioned project, up to 300 academic staff members and students’ exam fees who participate in the IELTS exam and get high scores are planned to be covered by the Education Development Fund.