Sometimes it is difficult without a bribe

Out of 11 thousand 300 teachers-educators working in state preschool educational institutions of Azerbaijan, more than 50 percent (5 thousand 800 people) do not have the appropriate higher or secondary special education in the field of preschool education. According to the Ministry of Science and Education, this became known as a result of the collection in electronic databases of personnel of preschool educational institutions over the past year.

By the end of 2021, preschool institutions were on the balance of executive authorities. On December 20 of the same year, President Ilham Aliyev signed an order on improving management in the state system of preschool education. Thus, State preschool educational institutions (with the exception of orphanages) that are subordinate to local executive authorities were transferred to the Ministry of Education.

According to official data, there are about 1,700 kindergartens in Azerbaijan, and the staff of these kindergartens is about 30 thousand people. Of these, 11 thousand 300 are educators. The Ministry of Science and Education noted that, according to the law "On Preschool Education", one of the main requirements for hiring educators is that they have higher or secondary special education in the field of preschool education: "Even people who do not have higher and secondary vocational education have been accepted for this position."

The ministry stressed that there will be no reduction of teachers-tutors, but wages will be analyzed: "The program that calculates wages finds that in some cases there is a discrepancy in qualifications, and treats this as an exception. Based on these figures, we tell employees and candidates that their documents do not meet the requirements. If these persons have passed any advanced training, have additional education, we inform them about it so that they submit their documents to us. If such documents are submitted, the salary is calculated accordingly."

The ministry added that currently employees of preschool educational institutions will participate in the certification process until 2026.

And education expert Nabatali Gulamov began a conversation with Radio "Azadlig" with a memoir: "I remembered a word said by former Education Minister Mikail Jabbarov in 2014. He said that in our districts more than 2 thousand teachers work with fake diplomas. This began to happen when the branches of the institutes were opened. Some of these branches received money and produced diplomas. That's where the kindergarten staff comes from."

He believes that this issue has a very negative impact on the educational process: "Already now our educational process is in such a state that it is not worth talking about it. Education is not interesting for our state."

According to Gulamov, in some cases, a bribe can play a role in hiring teachers who do not have a diploma or work with another qualified diploma. In his opinion, sometimes such cases are difficult to implement if there are no bribes: "They issue it under a special name. They write that, taking into account the necessary needs, so-and-so was hired without a diploma. Allegedly, there is a shortage of personnel, and because of this, people are hired without a diploma. They find a way out of any situation."

But some experts also believe that the Ministry of Science and Education must comply with the requirements of labor legislation when regulating this process. Moreover, in relation to these persons, it is also necessary to take into account their experience, as well as whether they subsequently completed additional specialization courses. According to them, this process should not end with a reduction in wages of only a part of people.

The attempts to  talk on this topic with the district executive authorities and the heads of these institutions, which previously subordinated preschool educational institutions, were futile.