Turkish Education Foundation Opens Schools in Azerbaijan

Baku/06.02.21/Turan: The Education Foundation of Turkey (Türkiye Aydınlanma Vakfı) plans to open educational institutions in Azerbaijan. This was announced by the head of the fund, Professor Birol Akgun.

According to him, the parties have already agreed on this issue. “Taking into account the new type of coronavirus infection (COVID-19) pandemic, we must act carefully, but our goal is to open the first school of the foundation in Baku in 2021,” Anadolu agency quotes the professor.

Akgun thanked the Azerbaijani authorities for the closure of educational institutions of “supporters of the terrorist organization Fetullah Gulen” (meaning the lyceums of the Çağ Öğretim society that operated from the mid-1990s and were later renamed Istek, and then completely closed - Turan’s note).

“The Foundation seeks to open its own schools in Azerbaijan and provide the Azerbaijani people with the opportunity to receive high-quality education that meets international standards,” he said.

According to the professor, for this purpose, representatives of the Foundation held meetings at the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan. “For a long time we have been working on the text of the corresponding agreement. I am proud and happy to announce that an agreement has been reached. The document will be signed during the visit of the head of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Education to Ankara,” Akgun said.

According to the professor, after the signing of the agreement, the Turkish Foundation will open schools not only in Baku, but also in other cities of the republic. Thus, Azerbaijan will become the 44th country where schools of the Education Foundation of Turkey will operate.

Akgun noted that preparations for the opening of schools continue.

The educational process at the new school in Baku will be based on a 12-year training program.

The Turkish Education Foundation will cooperate with Azerbaijan in the field of teacher training, exchange of experience, development of curricula on the use of IT technologies, he added.

“The schools will meet international requirements. There are certain international certificates of education. Of course, they can take time to acquire. I want to say that the basis of the educational strategy of the Education Foundation of Turkey is the training of quality personnel in accordance with the expectations of each individual country. The Foundation primarily takes into account local standards and national characteristics. Our goal is to improve relations with countries and contribute to their development,” Akgun said.

According to him, the offices of the Education Foundation of Turkey operate in 52 countries. “In 43 of them, there are educational institutions of the Foundation - schools, hostels, training centers. The Foundation oversees 332 schools abroad, where 40 thousand people study," said the head of the Foundation.      —06D-