"The admission rate to higher education institutions has increased over the past 10 years, which is a quantitative indicator," Azerbaijan’s Minister of Education Emin Amrullayev said on February 10 during the presentation of the World Bank's annual global report in Baku.
But what is the situation in secondary vocational education? Azerbaijan reportedly has more than 60 colleges and other secondary specialized educational institutions.
Many graduates complain that they struggle to find employment after completing college.
Ayxan Ibrahimov (name changed), a graduate of the Baku Industrial-Pedagogical College, told Azadlıq Radio that although he graduated from the institution two years ago, he has still not been able to find a suitable job: "Even though I completed college as a physical education teacher, I have not found a job in my field. Either there are no vacancies, or the salary is so low that it is impossible to live on. They mostly say that since I graduated from college and not a university, there are no job opportunities."
The graduate noted that he is currently preparing to enter a university in a different field: "There are many graduates like me. Plenty of people have finished other colleges but are also struggling to find work."
According to the Ministry of Science and Education, student admissions for the 2024-2025 academic year were conducted for 136 specialties in 84 vocational education institutions: "21,179 students were admitted under the state order, while 3,642 were enrolled on a paid basis. Compared to last year, the number of admitted students has increased by 21%."
It was highlighted that 1,275 vacancies were offered for subject teachers and production training instructors. "A total of 3,708 people applied, and 2,375 were allowed to take the exam. Of the 485 who passed the exam, 388 participated in the interview, and 308 were hired," the ministry added.
Education expert Elshan Gafarov, however, draws attention to vocational standards: "In all countries, personnel training is organized based on standards. Unfortunately, in our country, there are no vocational standards for different specialties. Even in the education sector, there are no professional standards for teachers. Our workforce is trained blindly, without a clear target."
According to him, training should be conducted based on the needs of the labor market: "In 2022, the president signed a decree on studying the labor market. That decree stated that two institutes should be established for this purpose. These institutes were supposed to start operating in 2023. Unfortunately, the decree has not been implemented, and there are no institutes for studying the labor market."
Gafarov emphasized that under such circumstances, workforce training in the country is not based on the supply-demand principle: "To eliminate this problem, the president’s decree must first be implemented. The non-governmental sector should also be involved in this field, and vocational standards should be developed in accordance with international norms."
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Young programmers are set to represent Azerbaijan at International Olympiads The Institute of Education and “Azercell Telecom” LLC organized another "Winter Camp" for the national team preparing for the international informatics Olympiads. As part of this initiative, the schoolchildren had the unique opportunity to engage with Rahim Mammadli, a software engineer at Google, and Tarlan Suleymanov, an Oxford University graduate specializing in autonomous vehicle control. The experts conducted a master class on modern programming languages and technologies, sharing their knowledge and professional experience.
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On Wednesday, the weather in the capital will be cloudy. Towards the evening, light precipitation may occur in some areas of Absheron, and the north-western wind. The temperature at night will range from -1 to +2 degrees, and during the day it will be +3 to +7. The humidity will be 70-80% at night and 60-65% during the day.
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Meetings of the Amnesty Issues Commission under the President of Azerbaijan are set to resume, with expectations that a new presidential amnesty decree will be issued. The last such decree was signed on May 25 of the previous year, ahead of Independence Day (May 28). That decree covered 154 individuals, of whom 63 were released from imprisonment, while the sentences of 52 others were reduced by half. The remaining individuals were mostly freed from electronic monitoring or had their sentences commuted in other ways.
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The National Hydrometeorology Service of Azerbaijan has forecast a mostly dry and cold day across the country on February 11, with occasional cloud cover in Baku and the Absheron Peninsula.
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