The presentation ceremony of the Republican Championship, to be organized by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Republican Committee of Independent Trade Union of Education Workers of Azerbaijan Republic, the Association of Trade Union Sports Organizations of Azerbaijan, the Republican Sports Center "Tahsil" and the Republican Council of Student Sports Association "Ganjlik", among students of higher education institutions was held. The presentation ceremony, held at the assembly hall of Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC), was attended by representatives of sports teams of higher education institutions, master judges in various sports and members of the working group. The regulations of the championship were presented to the participants of the ceremony in the form of a video. The program of the Republican Championship, to be held in March-May, 2016, among students, includes 10 kinds of sports. Natig Lahijov, Director of the Republican Sports Center "Tahsil", provided detailed information about the preparation stages for the championship, the rules of filling out order forms for teams, and the conditions for holding games. According to him, the Ministry of Education provides the necessary assistance to better organize sporting events to be held among students of higher education institutions. Then, the proposals were heard, and the participants were informed about the rules of holding games by master judges in various sports.

18/02/2016 10:01

New pupils were elected to the Centers, intended for preparation for International Olympiads and established under the Physics, mathematics and information science lyceum, as well as the chemistry and biology oriented lyceum, in order to ensure a more successful performance of Azerbaijani schoolchildren at International subject Olympiads. According to the results of subject competitions held in all cities and regions of the country from October 2015 until January of this year, 70-120 pupils were invited to Baku to participate in this selection process on relevant subjects. 60 percent of the pupils, participating in the selection process, came from regions. In general, during the selection round, about 400 seventh and eighth grade students demonstrated their knowledge and skills in mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology. 15-20 pupils, selected for each subject, will be involved in lessons, designed to prepare pupils for Olympiads, on the basis of a special program. It should be noted that the relevant selection round is held by the Ministry of Education for the second time. The pupils, selected in the academic year 2014-2015, continue their preparations at the Centers for more than a year.

18/02/2016 09:57

The Republican Ecological Education and Experience Centre of the Ministry of Education and IDEA Public Union launched the environmental education program entitled "Let`s protect the environment together" for schoolchildren. The purpose of the program is to instill a sense of caring and love for nature in young people, to strengthen environmental awareness and to actively involve young people in the solution of environmental problems. Under the program, the first training was organized at the Eco-club of secondary school No.6 of the city of Baku. The training, consisting of theoretical and practical parts, was dedicated to the theme entitled "Alternative energy - energy of the future". During the interactive training, attended by more than 30 pupils, the discussions were held about the environment, and the views of experts on topics, which are interesting to schoolchildren, were heard. IDEA Public Union and the Republican Ecological Education and Experience Centre of the Ministry of Education intend to organize similar trainings for pupils of other secondary schools of the country. According to the program, the trainings covering topics such as fundamentals of ecology, plant and animal ecology, human ecology, urban ecology or the cities of the future, climatic changes, alternative energy, waste management, biodiversity and its conservation, forest ecology, sustainable green tourism and other environmental themes will be organized for pupils every month. It should be noted that the environmental education program covers members of eco-clubs operating in pilot secondary schools in Baku. The Republican Ecological Education and Experience Centre of the Ministry of Education has begun the process of establishing eco-clubs in secondary schools since September 2015. Eco clubs are currently operating in 25 general educational institutions in Baku.

18/02/2016 09:55

On February 15-19, 2016, the questions related to the duties arising from the Order No. 1516 of the President of Azerbaijan Republic dated November 10, 2015, on "Making amendments to the Order No. 3108 of the President of Azerbaijan Republic dated August 30, 2013, on "Increasing scholarships for doctoral candidates, students and pupils of higher, secondary specialized and initial vocational educational institutions"" will be answered on the Facebook page of the Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan Republic. Questions will be answered through the comments.  Users are kindly requested not to appeal with recurring questions. Dear Facebook users! - While writing comments, everyone must comply with the requirements of the relevant legislation. Otherwise, such comments will be removed from the page. - Appeals should be associated with the above-mentioned issue. - Comments written in capital letters are automatically hidden by the system. Such comments will not be answered.

18/02/2016 09:54

On February 12, the Ministry of Education held a press conference in connection with the optimization of the network of secondary specialized educational institutions. It was noted at the press conference that in accordance with the Decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated February 3, 2016, the network of secondary specialized educational institutions, carrying out personnel training in the same or similar specialties and located in the same geographical area, was optimized by taking into account the need to improve the efficiency and quality of education at the secondary specialized education level. According to the Decision, 14 colleges were merged with each other in an appropriate manner, 3 colleges were subordinated to the relevant higher education institutions.  The Ministry of Education was instructed to divert funds, saved as a result of the execution of this decision, for strengthening the infrastructure of colleges, and to ensure the use of their relevant material-technical base for the purposes of the education system. The teaching load of teachers will remain at the current level because the number of students has not decreased as a result of the optimization of the network of secondary specialized educational institutions. Thus, this decision will not have a negative impact on the activities of teachers. The optimization of the network of secondary specialized educational institutions serves to improve the efficiency and quality of personnel training at this education level, and to respond to the demands of the modern education system. Within the framework of the "National Strategy for the Development of Education in the Republic of Azerbaijan", the important measures are taken to adapt the education management system and infrastructure to global experience and to reconstruct our country in accordance with the development concept. In the end, numerous questions from the journalists were answered.

18/02/2016 09:51

On February 11, the opening ceremony of the fifth Republican Contest "Scientists of the Future" was held at the Central Scientific Library (CSL) of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS). The main objective of the contest is to give pupils of senior classes the opportunity to demonstrate their scientific achievements and to identify candidates who will participate in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) held annually in USA. The contest is organized by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Heydar Aliyev Center, the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences and the Republican Committee of Independent Trade Union of Education Workers of the Azerbaijan Republic. Welcoming the participants of the event, Mikayil Jabbarov, Minister of Education, noted that the new challenges of the world and the need to build a society with a thorough knowledge imposed new requirements for the Azerbaijani youth. The formation of a more mature way of thinking and civic-mindedness in young people and their involvement in research-oriented activities are among the main objectives of the reforms implemented in general educational institutions of our country. Noting an increase in the number of students who participated in the Republican subject Olympiads in recent years, the Minister spoke about the work aimed at the popularization of science, and said that the mechanism for evaluating scientific achievements of higher education institutions was developed. Akif Alizadeh, President of ANAS, Intigam Babayev, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, and Tatiana Nanayeva, Manager for CIS countries at "Intel" Corporation, emphasized the importance of the contest in terms of increasing young people's interest in science and revealing their talent, skills and potential. Murad Alizadeh, who became the winner of the contest "Scientists of the Future" in 2013 and who is currently studying in the field of tourism at the University of Waterloo in Canada, shared his experience gained during the contest and spoke about his achievements. IX-XI grade students of general educational institutions of 11 cities and districts of the country participate in the contest "Scientists of the Future" with 129 scientific projects. 87 of them are collective projects, and 42 of them are individual projects. The contest, scientifically supported by a number of universities, is held in 8 categories. The jury consisting of leading scientists was established in order to evaluate the projects in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine and health, ecology, engineering, computer sciences. The projects with a new scientific idea, a technical description of experiment and engineering project, and a description of innovative computer program were received for the contest. The contest will last three days. On the second day of the contest, the projects will be evaluated by the jury, at the same time the Training Academy of the contest will operate. At the end of the day, the students will meet with prominent scientists of the country. On February 13, the “Open Door” day will be held in the first half of the day and during these hours, students and teachers of schools operating in Baku, as well as media representatives will get acquainted with the projects. In the second half of the day, the ceremony of awarding the winners will be held. The winners of the contest will be presented with cash prize, established by the organizers, diploma and medal. The authors of 3 projects, selected by a jury, will have an opportunity to participate in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) to be held in Phoenix, the State of Arizona, USA, in May of this year.

18/02/2016 09:49

The UK-Azerbaijan Interuniversity Forum was held in London on February 10 within the framework of the first meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on economic cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Jeyhun Bayramov, Deputy Minister of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Ms. Rebecca Hughes, the British Council's Director of Education, made a speech at the opening ceremony of the Forum.  In his speech, J. Bayramov noted that Azerbaijan established successful cooperation with the United Kingdom after the restoration of independence, education was one of the most dynamically developing areas, the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan attached great importance to the educational reforms during the transition to knowledge economy, and "National Strategy for the Development of Education in the Republic of Azerbaijan", approved by Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated October 24, 2013, was a road map for these reforms. Noting that there are already successful cooperation projects between the two countries in the field of higher education, Deputy Minister emphasized the importance of intensifying these projects both from a qualitative and quantitative point-of-view. Noting the attractiveness of higher education institutions of UK for Azerbaijani students, J. Bayramov underlined that one-third of the scholarships offered within the framework of the "State Program on education of Azerbaijani youth abroad in the years 2007-2015" were given to students studying in this country. Then, within the framework of the working sessions, the representatives of Azerbaijan and UK Universities delivered a report on the current state of cooperation in the field of higher education and scientific studies, and the prospects for future cooperation. During the discussions, faculty and student exchange, dual degree programs, joint research projects, exchange of successful experiences in the field of higher education management and realization of cooperation in other directions were discussed in detail.

18/02/2016 09:48

Mikayil Jabbarov, Minister of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, held a meeting with the Hungarian delegation visited our country. The delegation was composed of Zsolt Csutora, the former Hungarian ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, and  Ferenc Savaia, Rector of Kaposvar University in Hungary. During the meeting, the discussions were held around the relations between Azerbaijan and Hungary in the field of education and the possibilities of future cooperation with Kaposvar University in Hungary.

18/02/2016 09:47

The mobile group of "Education Volunteers", consisting of students, was established in order to promote electronic textbooks among the general public. "Education Volunteers" visit the schools, located in Baku, and explain the rules of registration on e-textbook portal and the guidelines for use of books to students and teachers. Since November last year, the mobile group of "Education Volunteers" conducted trainings about the advantages of electronic textbooks and the guidelines for their use for more than 20 000 students and more than 2 000 teachers in 104 secondary schools in Sabail, Nasimi, Nizami, Binagadi and Narimanov districts of Baku within 3 months. The presentations have been continuing since February in secondary schools located in Yasamal district. It should be noted that the e-textbook portal (www.e-derslik.edu.az) was put into operation by the Ministry of Education since 2014 by taking into account the urgency of electronic textbooks in the modern education system and expanding the activities in this direction. The number of the textbooks, placed on the portal, is increasing every month on a regular basis. In the second half of 2015, 48 units of electronic textbooks were placed on the e-textbook portal. At present, there are 107 units of electronic textbooks for Classes I-IV and VI-VIII of the Azerbaijani and Russian sectors. 5th and 9-11th grade textbooks will be placed on the portal in electronic form in the next stage, after publication in accordance with the new curriculum.  The main purpose of the creation of the portal is to create favorable conditions for learners to take an active part in the education process, to make effective use of ICT and to read textbooks in electronic format. Through this portal, schoolchildren can use textbooks at any time and place. Users have the opportunity to read textbooks in online form or in electronic version by downloading on tablets, and to take relevant electronic notes on any page of the textbook in the online mode.

18/02/2016 09:46

On February 9-13, the trainings were held for academic teaching staff of "SABAH" program (educated, skilled and prepared), established by the Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan Republic, at Paris Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi established in 2006. This was reported to AZERTAC by the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the United Arab Emirates. On February 9, the opening ceremony of the trainings was held. The opening ceremony was also attended by the ambassador of Azerbaijan to this country Dashgin Shikarov at the invitation of Rector of the University, Professor Eric Fouache. Speaking after the Chancellor's speech, the Ambassador welcomed the leadership of higher education institution and the participants of "SABAH" program, and wished them success in their responsible activities. Expressing his gratitude to E. Fouache for the invitation, the ambassador D. Shikarov spoke about the rich and ancient history and traditions of Sorbonne University and noted that this magnificent institution of higher education took a worthy place in the world educational market thanks to its well-established experience. The Ambassador emphasized that education is the future of every country and every nation, and the opportunities to learn quality education systems and methodologies were further expanded in a globalized world, and in this regard, he drew attention of the participants to the importance given to education in Azerbaijan. Reminding that the "State Program on Education of Azerbaijani Youth Abroad in the years 2007-2015" was developed in accordance with the Decision taken by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev, the Ambassador noted that under this program, thousands of Azerbaijani youth received education in the world's leading higher education institutions at public expense. He said that the Baku French Lyceum was also operating in Azerbaijan, along with other leading foreign educational institutions. It was noted that thousands of schools were built both within the country and abroad over the last 10 years at the initiative of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation headed by Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva, First Lady of Azerbaijan, UNESCO and ISESCO Goodwill Ambassador. The Ambassador also mentioned that within the framework of "SABAH" program, Paris Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi would continue practical cooperation with academic teaching staff and students of higher education institutions of Azerbaijan in the future and would make a valuable contribution to the education system of our country. According to him, the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan is ready to take an active part in this process. E. Fouache presented a gift to Azerbaijani ambassador on behalf of the university. Then, the painting which reflects music trio consisting of def, tar and saz performers, as well as young girl holding a pomegranate in her hands was presented to the Rector. Later, Ilhama Rahimova, Head of the work with teachers of “SABAH” groups of the Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan Republic, Head of the Department of Science and Higher Education, made a speech and Imran Mukhtarov, University Counsellor for work with the CIS countries (except Armenia), delivered a board presentation on bilateral cooperation.   AZERTAC

15/02/2016 16:25