The education system in Azerbaijan should be transferred to private rails

Baku/22.12.21/ Turan:  On December 21, the Minister of Education Emin Amrullayev held a briefing on the education decrees signed by President Ilham Aliyev the day before.

President Ilham Aliyev signed several orders related to education. According to the order "On Amendments to the Order" On Approval of the Structure of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan "dated December 27, 2010 No. 1251, regional education departments have been created, which will allow the implementation of the state educational policy from a single center - the Ministry of Education and thereby eliminate disagreements between this ministry and local executive bodies.

By another decree "On improving management in the system of state preschool education", state preschool educational institutions (with the exception of orphanages) subordinate to local executive authorities were transferred to the subordination of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan (earlier, in 2011, state preschool educational institutions were removed from the subordination of the Ministry of Education and transferred to the subordination of executive authorities).

The minister praised the creation of regional education departments and the return of state-run kindergartens to the Ministry of Education. He further commented on the information spread on social networks about the collection of money from students and parents in schools. Emin Amrullayev's comment sparked a heated debate on social media, where his statement about the need for a new mechanism to prevent fundraising in schools was interpreted as "fundraising in schools should be voluntary."

In fact, Emin Amrullayev said literally the following:

 “I believe that in order to put an end to the collection of money in schools, an appropriate mechanism should be activated. The talk is about transferring compulsory education to a fee-paying basis. Of course, compulsory education should be free. I once said that our schools can transparently engage in "fundraising" (from the English fundraising (literally - collecting donations) - attracting third-party resources to implement socially significant tasks, cultural projects or maintain the existence of an organization, potential donors, in the role of which both individuals and companies can act). What is fundraising? If a citizen wants, he can pay all taxes and invest 1 manat in education. Is it bad, sinful, or shameful? If it is shameful, sinful, then the citizen should not do it. But if it is possible, if we, as a society, consider it possible, then we should think about a healthy and transparent system,” said Emin Amrullayev.

But, for some reason, many decided that the new minister, is hiding behind modern technologies and encouraging bribery in schools.

According to Emin Amrullayev, fundraising should be viewed as an investment in education, and the more resources are invested in the education system, the better the result will be. But everything must be according to the rules - fundraising cannot be forced, it is possible only at the request of the parent, everything must be transparent. And society must agree on this mechanism. “Those who do not want to participate in this should not come forward with comments,” the minister concluded.

Education expert Nabatali Gulamoglu shared his thoughts on this incident in the "Difficult Question" program.

According to him, Minister Emin Amrullayev is unlikely to advocate for the legalization of corruption and he also opposes corruption in schools, so that there is no discontent among citizens. “However, our education system must correspond to our ideas. We cannot blindly copy foreign experience. We need to find the middle denominator. It is necessary to find out what is applicable in our country from foreign experience,” Gulamoglu said, adding that when it comes to collecting money, he is categorically against it.

However, in his opinion, whatever mechanism we use to avoid this, it will not work. Because in our country, in our society, bribery is the most common occurrence. “If bribery flourishes in the highest echelons of power, then it cannot but take root in the lower ranks,” he stressed.

According to Gulamoglu, the money collected in schools does not go to the teachers or the school principal. This money goes to completely different people.

“A candidate for the position of a school director is proposed by the district department of education. And the candidate for the post of the head of the district department of education is nominated by the head of the Executive Power. So who, in this case, should report to the head of the district education department, the minister or the head of the Executive Power?

Once the ex-Minister of Education Misir Mardanov said: "The organizers of bribery in schools are the heads of the Executive Power." In fact, because of these words, he suffered,” said the expert.

Gulamoglu noted that along with the public sector, the private sector also operates in the education system.

“True, it is very small, it can only make up 1% of the entire education system. Are there any complaints about the private sector? Of course no. Because there is order. Because market mechanisms operate there - they give knowledge, receive money. There is only one criterion: you pay - you get knowledge. But if this criterion is not there, then the result is a collective farm."

The expert is convinced that in Azerbaijan the state sector has been a collective farm and will remain so. “The education system in Azerbaijan needs to be transferred to private rails, but many are afraid of this,” Gulamoglu said.—0—