Cooperation with a Singaporean company to improve textbooks

Republic of Azerbaijan has signed a long-term cooperation agreement with “Alston” Publishing House. The aim is to exchange experiences, improve education curricula on subjects on natural sciences, as well as textbooks. The project will be implemented by the Institute of Education.

It should be noted that the Cabinet of Ministers approved the "State Standards of General Education in the Republic of Azerbaijan." According to the document, it is planned to teach the subject "Nature" in the 5th grade. For this purpose, in the initial stage of the joint project with the Singapore publishing house, curricula, training and teaching materials on teaching natural sciences at the primary education level will be analyzed on the basis of consultations of foreign experts. International experience and the requirements of the 21st century will also be studied, and updates will be made in accordance with the relevant recommendations. Distance trainings will be held for Azerbaijani subject specialists in order to improve educational programs in natural sciences and prepare textbooks.

Within the framework of the project, the content standards on natural sciences in the curriculum of I-IV grades on the subject "Knowledge of Life" will be updated and the content standards on the subject of "Nature" of the 5th grade will be written. In addition, a textbook concept for the 5th grade subject "Nature" and a new textbook set will be prepared on the basis of this concept.

According to international assessment studies in the field of general education, Singapore has one of the best education systems in the world. According to the 2015 report of the International Assessment Program on Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS - Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study), Singapore's fourth-graders ranked first among 47 countries with an average of 590 points in natural sciences, while eighth-graders averaged 597 points and ranked first among 39 countries. In addition, according to the 2018 report of the Program for International Assessment of Student’s Achievements (PISA), the average achievement of 15-year-old Singaporean students in the natural sciences was 551 points, which means the 2nd place among the participating countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.