Ministry of Education (Azerbaijan)
The Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan Republic () is a governmental agency within the Cabinet of Azerbaijan in charge of regulating the education system in Azerbaijan. History. The Education Ministry was one of the government agencies established on May 18, 1918 when Azerbaijan Democratic Republic declared independence. The first agency named the "Ministry of Public Enlightenment" consisted of three departments: General Secondary Education, Higher and Secondary Specialized Education, Vocational Schools. Council of Ministers of Azerbaijan approved the motion on June 30, 1920. After Soviet rule was established in Azerbaijan on April 28, 1920, the ministry was transformed  into the "Commissariat of Public Enlightenment" by the decree No.1 of the Council of Ministers of Azerbaijan SSR bringing all educational institutions in the republic under its direct supervision. In 1940, Council of Ministers approved creation of a separate government agency "Department of Labour Reserves" which would oversee the activities of vocational institutions. In 1959, the authorities transformed the entity into "State Committee of Vocational Education" which functioned until 1988. In 1959, Council of Ministers also approved establishment of the "Committee of Higher and Secondary Special Education" transferring all institutions of secondary and higher education under its control which from  1964 until 1988 acted as an independent government agency. In 1988 all education agencies were abolished by the decree of the Council of Ministers and "Ministry of National Education" was founded in their place. The Ministry was reorganized into "Ministry of Education" by the Presidential order on September 3, 1993. The ministry regulations were approved by the Presidential decree dated March 1, 2005. In 2013 Mikayil Cabbarov was appointed the Minister of Education. Structure. The ministry is headed by the minister and three deputy ministers. There is also a separate Education Department for Baku. Functions of the ministry include but  are not limited to enforcing government procedures and policies in the education sector, determining the development concepts of the education system of Azerbaijan and preparation of government programs for their realization; protection of rights of citizens to receive proper education, create conditions for equality in educational institutions; ensuring quality of the education given to citizens of the country; creation of economic and organizational models according to modern standards; enforce democratic mechanisms in the management; forecast the workforce demand markets in education of specialized professionals; increasing scientific and procedural potential in educational institutions; organization and development of international relations in the  education sector and so forth. Currently there are 36 state-run and 15 private universities in Azerbaijan. The ministry-released reports state that in 2009 20,953 undergraduate students and 3,526 graduate students entered in universities nationwide. Currently, there are 104,925 undergraduate and graduate students, studying in higher education institutions, excluding the specialized higher education schools. Universities employ 11,566 professors and 12,616 faculty members in the country. Statement. The functions of the Ministry. The Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan is responsible for carrying out a state policy related to education, to prepare education development concept, to prepare and implement perspective programs , to protect citizens` education rights and monitoring the education institutions and the. The Ministry should organize cooperation with the international educational institutions, relevant foreign state bodies and organizations operating in the field of education and develop the relations. The rights of the Ministry. The Ministry has the rights to prepare educational legal acts, to make proposals on their improvement, to issue decrees, orders and to recruit and dismiss employees under the law "On the state service" and nomenclatures, to awards the employees working in the field of education, as well as to take measures to encourage them. The Ministry  may require information and references from relevant executive bodies, organizations operating in the field of education, monitor all the educational institutions in Azerbaijan. Issuing and eliminating licenses for the educational activity also include the rights of the ministry. In parallel the Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan may represent Azerbaijan in the international educational events, relations and it has right to sign contracts and memorandums with relevant foreign state bodies, as well as international organization operating in the field of education. International relations. The international relations of the Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan are mainly in the directions on the student  and master exchange, joining scientific researches and international educational programs. The Ministry joined the international conventions on education and cooperates with international organizations such as Council of Europe and the European Union (EU), UNESCO, UNICEF, ISESCO, European Education Foundation. Azerbaijani universities joined TEMPUS/TASIS program funded by European Union. 21 projects amounting to 4.4 million Euros and covering 16 educational institutions in Azerbaijan have been implemented within the framework of TEMPUS program. With the financial support of this program, measures on student exchange, specialist preparation, organization of internships for teachers abroad, provision of higher education institutions with technologies and teaching  equipment have been carried out in the Baku State University, the Azerbaijan State Economic University, the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy, the Azerbaijan University of Languages, the Azerbaijan University of Architecture and Construction , as well as the Western University, and Khazar University. "Early Childhood Care Initiative with the Better Parenting”, "Active Learning School Leadership", "Teaching and Learning about Child Rights", “Development of information and analysis in the education system"," Young People's Health & Development", "Creation of Parent/teacher Association" and "Mine Risk Education" programs have been implemented within  the framework of the Cooperation Program signed between the Government of Azerbaijan and UNICEF, between 2000 and 2004. Totally 1.5 million dollars has been spent within the framework of these programs. In parallel Ministry of Education cooperates with China, Great Britain, Japan, USA, France, Kazakhstan, Germany, Russia, Israel, South Korea, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, India, Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, Czech, Uzbekistan, and Poland in the field of education and the leadership of the ministry visit these countries within the framework of the education programs carried out jointly with these countries. The Ministry of Education joined Paris Convention  of UNESCO (1979) and about the recognition of diplomas of higher education and scientific degrees in the European states and in the Asian and Pacific Ocean states. It also joined Lisbon convention (1997) about the recognition of higher education specialties in Europe. The Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan cooperates with World Bank since 1999. A number of projects have been implemented within the framework of this cooperation. One of these projects is Second Education Sector Development Project. The project amounting to 45.4 million dollars (25 million dollars by World Bank and 20.4 million dollars by the Government of Azerbaijan) was  carried out between 2009 and 2016. The main aim of the project that covers 3 phases and 6 components is to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning conditions. Publications. The Ministry of Education publishes the "Azerbaijan Journal of Educational Studies" (), a quarterly peer-reviewed open-access academic journal. Articles are published in Azerbaijani, Russian, English, Turkish. It was originally established in 1924 as "New School" (), and was renamed "Help to Teacher" () in 1930, before obtaining its current name in 1943.