A delegation of various state and private organizations from Spain, Italy, Portugal, Moldova, and Georgia visited our country with the support of the Education Development Fund within the framework of the Erasmus+ Programme and got acquainted with the activities of the ASAN service center.
The guests were given detailed information about the activities of ASAN service centers. Also, information about other activities of the State Agency, the works carried out in the field of social innovations, and the achievements of the public legal entity ABAD were brought to attention.
The delegation got acquainted with the activities of the “INNOLAND” Incubation and Acceleration Center and ABAD on the spot.
Elnur Nasibov, adviser to the Minister of Science and Education, Chairman of the Board of Education Development Fund, met with Professor Hasan Mandal, President of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TUBITAK), within the framework of his visit to Ankara.
On December 6, the prospects of cooperation were discussed, ideas were exchanged on the integration of science and education, the implementation of academic mobility programs, the development of university-industry cooperation and cooperation in other directions, and the preparation of a joint action plan was decided at a meeting held at the TUBITAK headquarters.
Elnur Nasibov also met with Mehmet Temel, Chairman of the Board of the National Education Fund of Türkiye, and Funda Kahraman, the CEO of the same institution. Cooperation issues between both funds were reviewed at the meeting.
On December 5, Elnur Nasibov, Advisor to the Minister of Science and Education, Chairman of the Board of the Education Development Fund, met with Selcuk Pahlivanoghlu, the General President of the Turkish Education Association (TED) in Ankara, the capital of Türkiye.
At the meeting, prospects of future cooperation between both institutions were discussed, and opinions were exchanged on issues of cooperation in the professional development of teachers and education administrators, experience exchange programs, social responsibility projects, and other areas.
Elnur Nasibov, Chairman of the Board of the EDF gave information about the activities and goals of the Fund, including the educational reforms carried out in Azerbaijan, the goals set for education by the requirements of the 21st century, which are reflected in the document “Azerbaijan 2030: National Priorities for Socio-Economic Development”. He said that the Education Development Fund under the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, a public legal entity, was established according to the decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Elnur Nasibov pointed to the “Changes in higher education: new trends and applications” seminar held in Baku recently with the broad presentation of Professor Ihsan Sabuncuglu, the Rector of TED University as an example of the EDF and TED cooperation, and expressed his belief that effective cooperation will continue.
At the same time, Selcuk Pahlivanoglu, a member of the Council of Education and Training Policies of the Presidential Administration of Türkiye, the founder of the TED Higher Education Foundation, the chairman of the Board of Directors and the Board of Trustees of TED University, expressed his satisfaction with the meeting and thanked the Chairman of the Board of the EDF for the visit. Selcuk Pahlivanoglu said that he is always ready to support the work to be done regarding the development of education.
The meeting was attended by Bulent Bagdatli, one of the founders of the TED Ankara school, Ayshe Nalan Kaskan, the Deputy General Director of the TED Ankara school, Tamer Atacan, the Director of the school, and Berkay Orhaner, the Advisor of TED University.
Elnur Nasibov got acquainted with the experience of TED Ankara school.
It should be noted that the Turkish Education Association was founded in 1928 by the initiative of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founding father of the Republic of Türkiye. Currently, TED operates with 41 schools and the university of the same name, the Higher Education Foundation, TEDMEM think tank, the symphony orchestra, and other organizations.
The International Student Forum on “Youth, Peace, and Security” dedicated to the “Year of Shusha”, organized by “One Volunteer” Students Cooperation Public Union with the support of the Education Development Fund and the Azerbaijan Youth Foundation has ended.
The forum consisted of 5 panel discussions and covered specific topics. The forum included presentations and discussions on “Post-Conflict Recovery: Reconstruction, Reconciliation, and Peace-building”, “Post-Conflict Statistics: Safe and Dignified Return and Reintegration of Internally Displaced Persons”, “Post-War situation: Peace, Security, and Stability in the South Caucasus and other regions”, “Sustainable Peace, Sustainable Development, and Cooperation”, and “Reporting from Conflict Areas: The Role of Media in Establishing Peace”.
As part of the forum, students paid a one-day visit to Shusha on November 26. During the visit, students became acquainted with the severe consequences of the occupation, the destroyed settlements, and cultural and historical specimens in the territories liberated from occupation.
It should be noted that the forum was attended by 40 foreign and 10 local students studying at the leading universities in the world from 30 countries in the specialties such as International relations, International law, Diplomacy, and other related specialties selected by the special commission.
On November 25, the rector of TED University in Türkiye, professor Ihsan Sabuncuoglu, held a seminar on “Changes in higher education: new trends and applications”.
The seminar was held at the initiative of the Education Development Fund and with the organizational support of Azerbaijan Technical University (AzTU).
Rector of AzTU Vilayat Valiyev welcomed the guests and said that university-industry cooperation, teacher-student relations, the quality of teaching and the application of researches to industry, as well as the future of universities will be discussed within the seminar.
Later, Elnur Nasibov, Chairman of the Board of Education Development Fund, gave detailed information to the participants of the event about the main goals and activities of the Fund.
The seminar continued based on the presentation of Ihsan Sabuncuoglu.
In the first part of the presentation, the rector spoke on “Global trends and applications in higher education”. In the second part, the research topic “Higher education and university-industry cooperation in Azerbaijan” was discussed.
At the end of the event, participants’ questions were answered and interactive discussions were held.
On November 24, the International Student Forum on “Youth, Peace, and Security” dedicated to the “Year of Shusha” was organized by “One Volunteer” Students Cooperation Public Union with the support of the Azerbaijan Youth Foundation and the Education Development Fund.
At the forum, the memory of our martyrs was commemorated with a minute of silence.
The guest speakers of the event were Elnur Nasibov, Chairman of the Board of the Education Development Fund, Vladanka Andreeva the UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan, Farid Jafarov, the executive director of the Youth Foundation, and Gulshan Pashayeva, the Board member of The Center of Analysis of International Relations. At the opening ceremony, the guest speakers of the event greeted the local and foreign guests and informed the foreign students about the damage caused to the material and cultural heritage of Shusha city during the occupation, as well as the fundamental research to be conducted in the direction of researching future development prospects in the post-occupation phase.
During the event, 2 panel discussions were organized. Interesting discussions were held among the forum participants in the panels dedicated to “Post-Conflict Recovery: Reconstruction, Reconciliation, and Peace-building,” “Post-Conflict Statistics: Safe and Dignified Return and Reintegration of Internally Displaced Persons”.
It should be noted that 50 students studying International relations, International law and Diplomacy took part in the forum. 40 of them are foreign students representing 30 different countries.
Nargiz Hajiyeva, director of the British Council for Azerbaijan, and Nargiz Akbarova, manager of examinations, were guests of the Education Development Fund.
During the meeting, there was an exchange of views on the implementation status of the work arising from the cooperation agreement between the Education Quality Assurance Agency and 6 higher education institutions “On encouraging the members of scientific and pedagogical staff of universities and students to take the IELTS exam”, as well as on potential projects that the Fund and the British Council can cooperate with.
The international forum was held in a hybrid format organized by the T-Network educators’ experience and communication platform, the Education Institute of Azerbaijan, in collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Education of Azerbaijan, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the Education Development Fund.
The main purpose of the forum, which was attended by Emin Amrullayev, the Minister of Science and Education, OECD representatives, representatives of about 20 countries, rectors, professors, science and education workers, teachers, school directors, and other guests, was to discuss new challenges in education, to review the educational requirements of the new age.
The Minister of Science and Education Emin Amrullayev, who delivered the opening speech, was the first to note the importance of the forum for the educational community.
Speaking about international assessment studies, the Minister said that participation in these studies makes us a member of the global education system, and also creates an opportunity to exchange ideas with colleagues from different countries. The Minister emphasized that the mentioned forum is of this kind.
Emin Amrullayev noted that over the past few years, the PISA international assessment study has been identified as one of the main goals of education development in the country. According to the Minister, PISA gives us not only figures but also quite serious science and evidence.
In his speech, the Minister of Science and Education also noted that the inclusion of education as a separate section in the document “Azerbaijan 2030: National Priorities for Socio-Economic Development” and the definition of goals sets concrete goals for educators.
Emin Amrullayev concluded his speech by wishing the forum every success.
Then Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, who joined the forum in an online format, said that education is a social service and using the digital revolution for education should be the main goal. Stefania Giannini added that experienced, qualified teachers in the auditorium should play a key role as administrators of the education system.
Stefania Giannini highly praised the inclusion by the Azerbaijani government of a section on education in the document “Azerbaijan 2030: National Priorities for Socio-Economic Development” and the work being done in this area.
The forum’s keynote speaker, Andreas Schleicher, Special Adviser to the OECD Secretary-General on Education Policy and Director of Education and Skills, then gave a presentation on “How to prepare learners for the future?”.
Speaking about the education of the future, Andreas Schleicher noted that schools have already embraced digital transformation, which is changing the nature as well as the tools of learning. Referring to the use of digital technologies in the learning process, Andreas Schleicher said that this makes learning more engaging and effective. The teacher’s role in this process remains high.
Luis Pereira dos Santos, Chairman of the Board of the Portuguese Institute of Educational Assessment, PISA Board Representative in Portugal, Maye Kitsing, Adviser to the General Education Department at the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, Country Coordinator for PISa, Mario Piacentini, Senior PISE Analyst, Tracy Burns, Director of Research at the US National Center for Education and the Economy, Stéphane Vincent Lankren, OECD Senior Analyst and Deputy Director of the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, and Mark Fuster, Analyst at the OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation made presentations at the forum.
The presentations were about the topics such as “What should the school of the future be like?”, “Global trends shaping education,” “Is digitalization in education the final solution?” and other topics.
The forum discussed questions such as “How should learning be organized in a digital world?”, “What new school models are needed?”, “What will be the future of the learning process and content in education?”; and “How do we prepare a man for the future?”
Ali Rza Altunel, Education Advisor of the Embassy of Türkiye in Azerbaijan, was a guest of the Education Development Fund.
A. Altunel gave information about the current state of the education system, the done work and earned achievements in this direction in the brother country.
At the meeting, preliminary discussions were held between the educational institutions of two states on the cooperation perspectives, the work that can be done with the support of the Education Development Fund in this field.
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.
