The meeting was devoted to the results of accreditation of Music College of Azerbaijan National Conservatory, Shirvan State College of Economics and Humanities and Baku State College of Social Economics.   Chair of Accreditation Commission for Music College of Azerbaijan National Conservatory Hajar Babayeva gave detailed information on the organization of teaching process at college noting the quality of expert training were also studied. She acquainted the meeting attendees with results of compliance of the activity of college with its status and informed about conclusion made by Accreditation Commission on some criteria, including the personnel training. Chair of Accreditation Commission for Shirvan State College of Economics and Humanities Farrukh Mammadov presented the figures on learning conditions of the school, and its material and technical basis and teaching staff. He brought to the attention of participants proposals and recommendations made by Commission for the improvement of college activity. Chair of Accreditation Commission for Baku State College of Social Economics Latif Ismayilov acquainted attendees with general activity of the college, its relevant figures and decision made by the Commission. Questions taken from attendees regarding the results of accreditation were answered, and number of opinions and suggestions were voiced. Education Minister Misir Mardanov expressed his views on issues regarding the most effective organization of accreditation process at secondary special schools. At the end, the activity of Music College of Azerbaijan National Conservatory was assessed as “good” and other two education institutions as “satisfactory”, and was made a decision on accreditation of their relevant specialties.  

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Education Minister Misir Mardanov warmly welcomed Kestutis Kudzmanas and congratulated him on receiving an award “Gold Plane Tree” for its support for the activity of Heydar Aliyev Foundation in the area of education. Touching upon development prospects for the educational links between the two countries, the Minister talked about organization of Lithuanian university rectorsvisit to Azerbaijan. He noted the works that will be implemented within student exchange programs between universities of Azerbaijan and Lithuania will be very useful and expressed interest in the experience of Lithuaniain the vocational education field. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Lithuania to Azerbaijan Kestutis Kudzmanas thanked the Minister for his warm welcome. Noting educational ties of both countries have been developed over the last years, the Ambassador gave information on universities of Lithuania. According to him, fields, such as medicine (including veterinary and pharmacology), technology, biophysics, biochemistry, laser technology, building, engineering, etc. have been especially developed in Lithuania. He touched on issue regarding the broadening of student exchange between the two countries and talked about measures taken in his country to develop the science. He also shared his views on scientific ties between Lithuania and Azerbaijan, scientists experience exchange, and current situation in the field of vocational education of his country.  Noting the rapid development of education field of Azerbaijan, Mr. Kudzmanas thanked again the Minister Mardanov for the warm welcome and invited him to Lithuania. The Minister thanked the guest and noted that he is about to visit the Republic of Lithuania from 15 to 22 June, where a number of issues will be broadly discussed. At the meeting, other issues have also been discussed by the sides.

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It should be noted that Distance Education Centre is one of the main components of Electronic Training Systems implemented within State Program for Informatization of Education System of Azerbaijan Republic for the years of 2008-2012, and provides secondary education for pupils in need of special care through distance teaching methods. The main goal of Electronic Training Systems is to attract disabled children to distance learning, support their integration into society and enhance their IT skills. 30 pupils and 7 teachers were presented Apple MacBook laptops within the project and pupils were connected to Azerbaijan Education Network from their homes. Classrooms selected to conduct control over the teaching process are provided with fiber optic high speed Internet access. Moreover, methodological manual on ICT usage was prepared for teachers, pupils and parents. The event was attended by Education Minister Misir Mardanov, MP Kamila Aliyeva, rectors of universities, representatives of Baku city Education Department, NGOs, school directors and other guests. At first, the guest became familiar with Distance Education Centre established in the school and watched the process of distance education. Next, the event was continued in the Assembly Hall of the school. After the opening ceremony, the director of Nobel – T Company Salam Aliyev gave a presentation about the project. Methodist Expert of the Centre Roza Gasimova gave a presentation about the web portal www.mesafedenmekteb.edu.az.  Speaking at the opening of the event Education Minister Misir Mardanov welcomed the event attendees and expressed his satisfaction with another successful step taken in the education system of the country. He stressed the importance of attracting children in need of special care to distance education and talked about benefits of the project. Education Minister has thanked everyone who have contributed to the project and stressed the need for the further expansion of project. He expressed his belief in the successive implementation of the project. According to him, there is still much work to do. Next, director of School No. 20 Sabir Mamishov talked about done works on using ICT in teaching process and achieved successes. Melahet Shirinli made a speech on behalf of parents and expressed her appreciation for the educational care provided to children in the need of special care.

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According to the order, the Last Bell will be organized in the territory of education establishment on 31 May 2011 at 10:00 AM, and will last 3 hours. Participation of representatives of parent committees, parent-teacher associations and community in the event shall be provided. Moreover, the Ministry of Education of Nakhchivan AR, Baku city Education Department, Ganja city Education Department, and districts (cities) education departments are instructed to complete the organizational works in a timely manner to conduct meaningful Last Bell event, and take necessary measures to ensure the safety of pupils.

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The event attendees were welcomed by Education Minister Misir Mardanov. He gave information on the International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), which was organized and sponsored by Intel Corporation, and noted that Azeri pupils took part in the Fair held in the USA for the first time. Noting the goal of the competition, which has been held since 1950, is to increase creativity potential of pupils in the fields of science and technology, the Minister underlined that it is also creates a basis for the improvement of continuous professional training system within the triplet “school-university-doctoral study.” According to him, about 500 winners from different countries of the world, who have competed in annually conducted local science fairs, took part in the final stage of the competition. The Minister said that the number of students wishing to demonstrate their science projects in the competition has been increased over the last years and praised that as a manifestation of the increasing interest in science intensive research. According to the Minister the number of participated countries is constantly increasing, from 47 countries in 2006, 51 in 2009 and 67 in 2011 to 70 countries in 2012. Noting that Intel ISEF creates an opportunity for students to communicate with world-famous scientists and engineers, and to receive more information on prospects for their researches, the Minister informed that over 20 winners of the competition have become Nobel Prize laureates, and 3 contestants became winners of the Fields Medal for Mathematics.   The Minister said that, the national qualifying round of Intel ISEF the Scientists of Tomorrow competition was held from 23 to 24 February of the current year in Azerbaijan, where the winners were selected. According to him, Azerbaijan was represented in the Intel ISEF by 5 pupils. He highly praised the participation of Azeri pupils in the prestigious international competition and thanks to everyone who has contributed to this issue. The Minister gave his advice and recommendations for the best preparation to the competition in the future. Noting the importance of good preparation to competitions the Minister put forward his ideas on creation of relevant centers, involvement of famous scientists in scientific fields included to the competition and take into consideration the international practice in the relevant field. Next, Director of Science Department of the Ministry of Education Gultekin Huseynova gave a presentation on the conduction of Intel ISEF in Azerbaijan and the participation of Azeri pupils in the competition. The event was attended by Deputy Education Minister Gulu Novruzov, Professor of Baku State University Rovshan Khalilov, Professor of IT and Programming Department of Sumgayit State University Javanshir Mammadov, Director of Lyceum named after academician Zarifa Aliyeva Mahabbat Valiyeva, Director of Baku European Lyceum Zulfiyya Veysova, associate professor of Baku State University Ismat Ahmadov and others. They have made a speech highly praising the participation of Azeri pupils in the International Science and Engineering Fair and shared their views concerning the preparation for competition.

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It should be noted that, the figure recorded for the previous year was 97 653 people. In 2011 the number of pupils graduated from XII classes of correspondence and evening secondary schools has amounted 442 pupils. It is expected that this year the number of school leavers will increase to 786 people. In 2011/2012 academic year about 24 285 pupils of secondary schools of Baku city will complete XI, and 33 977 students IX classes. The number of pupils admitted to the 1st class of secondary schools in 2011/2012 academic year was 125 807 people. In 2010/2011 study year this figure was 120 420 pupils. In 2012/2013 academic year, it is expected to admit to the 1st class of secondary schools 130 454 schoolchildren. Currently, 99 924 students are studying at universities subordinated to the Ministry of Education, including 91 652 students earning Bachelors and 8 272 Masters degrees. Moreover, 24 795 students are studying at the last courses of universities subordinated to the Ministry of Education, including 21 779 Bachelor and 3 016 Masters students. Currently, 19 615 students are studying at private universities, including 18 689 Bachelor and 926 Masters students.

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The meeting was attended by the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Azerbaijan Vladimir Dorokhin and Head of Russian Information and Cultural Centre Anvar Sheykhov.  Education Minister welcomed the guests and underlined the rapid development of relations between Azerbaijan and Russia in all areas, particularly in the field of education. Noting there is an increasing interest in learning Russian at secondary schools of Azerbaijan, the Minister stressed that more attention has been paid to the teaching of Russian language in the country compared to the early 1990s. According to him, there is no problem in teaching Russian language at universities of the country, and the study of Russian at secondary schools of Baku is also conducted at a very high level. However, the Minister stressed the need to improve the teaching level of Russian language at secondary schools of regions. He suggested preparing Russian language teaching programs, as well as establishing Russian lyceums in Azerbaijan, and expressed his interest in the position of guests on these issues.   Konstantin Kosachev, Head of the Federal Agency for CIS Countries, thanked the Minister for the warm welcome. He expressed his satisfaction with the Russian language teaching process in Azerbaijan and said that there is a need for more practical works and training of professionals in any country in the world to improve Russian language teaching. He also touched on issues such as financial support from Russia for the development of Russian language, and creation of legal basis for the relevant cooperation. K. Kosachev highly praised the conditions created for the teaching of Russian language in Azerbaijan. He accepted the relevant proposals of the Minister and noted the relevant works will be implemented regarding the above mentioned issues. At the meeting, the sides have also discussed other issues of common interest.

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The event was attended by Deputy Education Minister Gulu Novruzov, representative of Council of Europe Katia Dolgova-Dreyer, expert of European Training Foundation Arjen Deij, expert of the World Bank Olav Aarna, representatives of the Council of Europe, European Training Foundation and other international organizations. Speaking at the opening of the event Deputy Education Minister Gulu Novruzov noted the importance of the seminar in terms of integrating Azerbaijan into the European Education Area. According to him, Azerbaijan as an independent state has successfully integrated into the international community in all directions, including the field of education. Noting the implementation of National Qualifications Framework is one of the most important reform movements in the education field, G. Novruzov shared his views on issues that will be discussed at the seminar. Next, there were heard presentations given by representative of Council of Europe Katia Dolgova-Dreyer, expert of the World Bank Olav Aarna and others. After the speeches, the seminar has continued its work within the working groups, where relevant discussions were held. The international seminar will continue its work on June 6.

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On 4 June, the delegation visited La Sapienza University, which is one of the ancient and largest universities of Europe with 140 000 students, and met with Rector Luigi Frati. Next, the members of delegation have held a meeting with Rector and deans of university faculties. The meeting was attended by members of delegation of La Sapienza University, who visited Baku in October last year in order to become acquainted with universities of Azerbaijan. They expressed their satisfaction with meetings held at universities of Azerbaijan, and stressed their interest in continuing the cooperation. According to Rector of University La Sapienza Luigi Frati, the University gives a high priority to fields, such as biotechnology, veterinary, chemistry, nanotechnology, archeology, economic and law. Currently, an extensive scientific research on the theme of Civil rights in Russia and South Korea is being held at university. Moreover, there is special attention paid to the economic management field as well. Mr. Frati added that the signature of cooperation agreement with universities of Azerbaijan will have a positive impact on the development of bilateral relations. The Rector said that English Department at medicine and economics faculties of the University will be opened in the current academic year to increase the number of overseas students. He underlined he will very pleased if Azeri students will study at these two faculties. Touching upon distance education issues, the Rector noted that if the official agreement will be signed then young people of Azerbaijan will be able to study at their University, receive a PhD degree or do scientific researches along with their Italian colleagues through the Internet. Moreover, it was noted that currently, more than 4 000 researchers are doing their scientific research for PHD degree at university. Education Minister noted with pleasure that Italy was one of the first countries that recognized the independence of Azerbaijan in 1919 and stressed the existence of a broad cooperation between the two countries in all areas. According to him, Italy is also the biggest trade partner of Azerbaijan. The Minister underlined the existence of great opportunities to use a potential in the education field that was not fully used by the sides. He noted that Azerbaijan Medical University and Italian University of Genoa have successfully cooperated within the Tempus and Erasmus – Mundus programs of European Union. Moreover, the cooperation agreements have been signed with 3 universities of Azerbaijan and soon necessary measures will be taken to register the relationship with Azerbaijan University of Architecture and Construction and Azerbaijan Technical University officially. Noting Department of Italian Studies is operated at University of Languages of Azerbaijan, the Minister talked about interest of Azeri people in learning Italian language and culture. He talked about his meeting with Ambassador of Italy to Azerbaijan before his visit to Italy and underlined that by the support of Italian Embassy necessary measures will be taken to organize the teaching of Italian language at some schools of Azerbaijan. Next, Mr. Mardanov gave information on achievements of Azerbaijan in the education field after the country joined to the Bologna system in 2005, and talked about works that will be done within this process. He added that La Sapienza University meets all requirements to be included in the priority list of universities, where young people of Azerbaijan are studying. Moreover, the sides have discussed an issue of conducting short-term education management courses for members of delegation, and Rector of La Sapienza University has instructed relevant persons to send the list of main specialties to the Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan as soon as possible. Next, the Minister noted the importance of establishing Department for Azerbaijani Studies at La Sapienza University as a result of development of educational relationship between the two countries. According to him, full support will be provided for the establishment and development of department. The Minister has also invited Mr. Frati to visit Baku in September of the current year to take part in the conference organized to celebrate the 20th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Italy.  Mr. Frati expressed his gratitude for the invitation and noted such visit would be very useful to become more familiar with universities of Azerbaijan and promote the cooperation. At the end Mr. Frati expressed his deep appreciation to the Minister of Education Misir Mardanov for his support and assistance to increasing interest of Azeri people in universities of Italy and Italian language.    It should be noted that a cooperation agreement was signed between La Sapienza University and the number of Azeri universities. The contribution of Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Italy Mr. Vagif Sadigov and staff of the Embassy to this issue is should be especially stressed. Currently, preparation works are carried out to sign an official cooperation agreement with Azerbaijan University of Architecture and Construction and Azerbaijan Technical University. On June 5, the delegation met with Education Minister of Italy Francesco Profumo, where Mr. Mardanov has talked about the cooperation existing between Azerbaijan and Italy in all fields, underlined the respect of our people to Italy and Italians creates a basis to expand bilateral relations in the education field.  Speaking about the works that will be done to promote existing relations and cooperation, Mr. Mardanov underlined the Department of Azerbaijani Studies that planning to be established at La Sapienza University might become a relationship centre between Azerbaijan and Italy. The Minister gave information on the State Program for study abroad and underlined the need to increase the number of Azeri students at universities of Italy. He added that the Government of Azerbaijan could also provide a scholarship for this purpose. Education Minister stressed the importance of expanding direct relations between scientists of both countries, and organizing the trip of students during the summer vacation. He talked about discussions held with the Ambassador of Italy to Azerbaijan regarding the teaching of Italian language at secondary schools of Azerbaijan.    Education Minister of Italy Francesco Profumo has thanked the Minister for the attention paid to the issue of learning Italian language and culture in Azerbaijan. He underlined the importance of informing Italian community about Azerbaijan. He also touched upon an issue regarding the learning of Azeri language and history at La Sapienza University and underlined that full support will be provided to establish a relationship in the other fields of education. Next, the sides have discussed issues (such as student exchange, joint scientific researches, conduction of scientific conferences, symposiums) pointed out in the agreement on science, culture and technology singed between the ministers of education of the both countries in 2005. There were noted the need to coordinate the relations established between Azerbaijan National Archive Department and Archival Institution of Florence. They also discussed the establishment of links between Azerbaijan National Archive Department and universities of Italy. Misir Mardanov suggested establishing a Working Group on education between Azerbaijan and Italy. At the meeting the sides have also discussed an issue regarding the recognition of educational documents between Azerbaijan and Italy. At the end, Mr. Mardanov invited his Italian colleague Francesco Profumo to visit Baku in September of the current year to participate in the conference organized to celebrate the 20th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Italy.  Mr. Profumo has thanked the Minister and gladly accepted the invitation.  On June 5, there was held a meeting with Azeri students studying in Italy. During the meeting, the Minister talked with students, asked them about their study and reminded them that they are bearing special responsibilities to deliver the realities of Azerbaijan to the world. At the same day, the Minister met with President of Dante Alighieri Institution Bruno Bottai and executive director Alessandro Mazzi. On June 6, the delegation met with Chairman of the Italian Senate Committee on Culture, Research and Education and Coordinator of Cooperation Group for UNESCO Senator Guido Possa. At the meeting, Education Minister Misir Mardanov talked about successful development of political and economic relationship between Azerbaijan and Italy. He noted that the goal of his visit is to expand links with universities of Italy. Moreover, the Minister touched upon issues regarding the teaching of Italian in Azerbaijan and works that will be implemented to take them more seriously and extensively. He also underlined the importance of extending the cooperation within programs of European Union. Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Italy Vagif Sadiqov underlined the high level of relationship between the two countries. Senator Guido Possa has thanked for contributions made to keep the existing relations between the two countries at a high level. He promised to support Azerbaijan in all fields as a Chairman of 7th Standing Committee on Education, Cultural Properties, Scientific Research, Entertainment and Sport and make effort to develop inter-university relations. According to him, Azerbaijan is the economically and politically strongest country in the region among member countries of Eastern Partnership. The Senator underlined the need to establish Azerbaijan – Italy Friendship Group. Noting Azerbaijan is young country and walking confidently into the future, Senator Possa stressed the possibility to implement the projects for teaching Azeri language in Italy. At the end, Education Minister Misir Mardanov has thanked Senator Guido Possa and members of Senate for organizing a high-level meeting. 

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966 calls were received by phone, 89 by e-mail. A majority of them were for queries and information. The queries were about the national and international subject Olympiads, study abroad, extra education, new assessment system at higher and secondary special education system, nostrification and reception of education documents, admission of teachers to the vacant positions at secondary schools on a competitive basis, admission of children to the first grade for the next academic year, and workload standards for teachers, etc. All of them were recorded, registered and responded by the Service staff. In May the Hotline received 45 complaints from secondary schools of the Republic, including 31 – from schools of Baku, 2 from Sumgayit, 1 from Ganja, 3 from Absheron district, and 1 from each Shahbuz, Gabala, Khachmaz, Balakan, Sabirabad, Gusar, Gadabay and Samukh districts. The majority of complaints received from secondary school were about shortcomings committed by school directors in the management, collection of money for school funds, dissatisfaction with lessons distribution, poor organization of teaching process and illegal retention of teachers salaries, etc. It was revealed that, a majority of inquiries were anonymous that although some of them were provided with a full name and telephone number. Last month, Hotline Service received 11 queries from state higher and secondary special education establishments, and 3 from private universities. The queries were mostly about the delay in issuing education documents, not giving examination questions in advance, payment of tuition fee, shortcomings of the heads of structural units in performing their duties, etc. All inquiries were investigated in the proper way and solved.

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