When a Degree Stops Being a Promise: Azerbaijan’s Story of Education Without Guarantees

A conflict surrounding a newly constructed sewerage line in the settlement of Buzovna in northeastern Baku continues to escalate, gradually transforming from a local коммунal dispute into a broader issue concerning the transparency of infrastructure projects, environmental oversight and the accountability of state institutions.

In recent years, the teacher institution in Azerbaijan has evolved from being merely part of education policy into one of the key components of the state’s long-term human capital strategy. Teacher certification, salary increases, digital education projects and the modernization of school infrastructure are presented among the government’s priority areas. At the same time, problems related to the social prestige of the teaching profession, regional inequality, the expansion of private tutoring, the high centralization of school governance and the actual quality of education still remain unresolved.

The torrential rain that hit Baku on May 17 once again turned the capital’s main avenues into water traps. According to Azerbaijan’s National Hydrometeorological Service, 103 millimeters of rain fell in Baku and on the Absheron Peninsula within nine hours — equivalent to 523% of the climatic norm. Babek Avenue, Nobel Avenue, the airport highway and several other roads were flooded, traffic was paralyzed, and authorities blamed rainfall far exceeding the “norm.” Yet what is happening in Baku has long ceased to be merely a weather story.

Late in the evening, inside one of the government buildings in central Baku, lights continue to burn in several offices well past midnight. Folders filled with reports are stacked across desks, telephones do not stop ringing even at night, and mid-level employees wait for messages from senior management, afraid of missing an instruction. One official, who agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity, admitted: “Sometimes it feels as though you are not working, but constantly taking an exam.”