ABROAD FOR PHD

The Ministry of Education is working to develop a new education programme for Azerbaijani youth abroad. At the current stage, it is completed and the Ministry of Education is in the process of summarizing its results. During the programme "Q?buldASAN" ("You're at the reception") on Asan Radio, Education Minister Mikayil Cabbarov responded to a question from R+ about the foreign education of Azerbaijani citizens.

And the question was asked not by chance. As you know, in December 2015 on the initiative of the Ministry of Education, the state programme for the education of students abroad was suspended. This was the first such state programme. It ended in 2015 and was started in 2007. Over the years of its existence, more than 3,500 students, including undergraduates and doctoral students, had the opportunity to study abroad. Even today, more than 1,500 students continue their education. And no one will dispute the fact that education abroad was a highly effective investment in the future of both the student and his people and state.

The new education format

According to Mikayil Cabbarov, after discussing this issue, the government decided to suspend the programme for a year in order to assess its results and the experience accumulated over the past period. However, this is not to say that Azerbaijani citizens will be deprived of the opportunity to obtain valuable international experience in the field of education. The thing is that the government plans to further strengthen the capacity of national universities, inviting foreign specialists to work.

"As for the sending of students abroad, preference will be given to undergraduates and doctoral students to obtain a PhD degree, and at the same time, quantitative quotas will be established for students," the minister said. In addition, it is planned to work closely with universities to determine the priority areas (depending on socio-economic development needs), in which the involvement of such specialists will be the most efficient.

Also, Mikayil Cabbarov said that Azerbaijani students will have the opportunity to be educated in English at local universities. For example, the SAT format of entrance exams previously available only in ADA University will now become possible in other universities too. The minister did not rule out that new sources will be attracted to fund the education programme for young Azerbaijanis abroad. In the meantime, it is being financed by the State Oil Fund.

"Overboard"

However, the bright prospects outlined by the country's education minister do not supersede the desire of many young people to study in foreign universities. And most of the students, who were planning to enter university within the framework of the state programme this year, remain "overboard" because they have no personal funds required for these goals.

Elvin Xalilov says: "I entered a prestigious university in Manchester. There's a very high level of competition there, and I managed to pass it. But since the state programme has been frozen, I cannot study there. The ministry suggested that I look for sponsors among private individuals or companies to pay for my education." But in Azerbaijan, it is quite difficult to find a company or a sponsor in the current realities. However, according to the ministry, if it turns out that the university which the entrant or a student has entered is really prestigious and is a priority area for us, an exception may be made for such a student after careful consideration of the circumstances.

Selection committees in many Western countries, including the United States, evaluate entrants based on several criteria: entrance exams, essays, recommendations, extracurricular activities and interviews. These components are equally important, so we need to seriously prepare not only for the exams, but also to start planning everything as early as possible, but no later than the beginning of the tenth grade. Great attention is paid to the scientific and public activity of the entrant. So it is not difficult to guess what titanic efforts Xalilov had to make to enter the University of Manchester and what a pity it is not to take advantage of such a promising opportunity.

The only advice that can be given in this case is to try your luck within the framework of educational programmes abroad on the basis of competitions organized by various organizations. The ranks of such organizations functioning in Azerbaijan for education exchanges and their programmes are very wide. Exchange programmes are announced by representatives of organizations such as ACCELS (the United States), IREX, World Learning, British Council (United Kingdom), DAAD (Germany) in Baku, as well as the embassies of France, Italy, Japan, Greece, Egypt, Poland and other countries. All educational expenses, including transport for winning students are paid by their respective programmes.

Problems with scholarship

As for those who still study abroad within the framework of the state programme, a student of University of Nottingham, Sevda Xanmammadova, told R+ that some young people studying at the expense of the state programme are currently experiencing problems with obtaining scholarships.

"In order to enter the selected overseas university, it was necessary to pass a language test - IELTS or TOEFL, provide a diploma with grades and a letter of motivation. Often it was enough. Some universities also require additional examinations in the case of technical disciplines, but it is rare. After their admission was approved, the issue of payment should have been resolved. Some universities abroad find sponsors that partially or completely cover the tuition. As for the state programme, it undertook not only the tuition, but also scholarships for students. The scholarship varied depending on the country of residence." Sevda entered university in 2014: "My education was fully paid, I also received a scholarship, though sometimes it was delayed, but there were students who had only the cost of education paid, and they did not receive a scholarship. It was caused by problems with the budget."

Some graduates of prestigious foreign universities think that it would be better to go to study abroad after obtaining a bachelor's degree in their home country.

For example, before enrolling at Imperial College London within the framework of the state programme, Vusal Mammadov had already 10-year experience of work in the oil company BP. "I decided that a master's degree abroad would be another impetus for my career growth and enrolled at Imperial College London," says Vusal. "This is one of the most famous universities not only in Britain but also in the world. It is listed among prestigious universities such as Oxford and Cambridge. In technical subjects it is even ahead of these universities and is among the top five universities in the world almost every year," he explains.

The selection for admission to this university has several levels. Competition is always high - 8-10 people per seat. Therefore, admission was not so easy. The speciality selected by Vusal corresponds to the job he did before entering the Imperial College - environmental protection.

Education abroad opens up new horizons, Vusal says. But he also advises people to apply for a master's degree abroad after at least 3-5 years of work experience at home. "It is better to get a bachelor's degree in Azerbaijan. At 16-17 years, a young man has not yet formed his character and outlook and has an unstable attitude towards national and cultural values. And getting into a society with different cultural values is risky," he said.

"It is better if you come to us!"

Interestingly, some education experts believe it is time for Azerbaijan to raise its own level of education to world standards. For example, the executive director of the ?st?k network of lyceums, Anar Mammadov, believes that many parents are ready to make a significant contribution to the education of their children, preparing them for foreign education in advance. Education abroad requires constant attention and money. If the parents or the child focus on it, they should not rely solely on the state programme. They have to be ready to consider other options. Experience shows that children are faced with certain difficulties.

Of course, giving children from poor families a chance to receive education abroad at the expense of the state is very good. But if it has been decided to limit education abroad, this should be done only by increasing the undergraduate level.

"It should be noted that the level of the intelligence of our and foreign students is about the same - the differences are in the education system. Education abroad is more practical, a student becomes part of society there, and his professionalism increases likewise. In our universities, the main concept is the academic approach. Of course, encyclopedic knowledge is also good, but in the existing realities, a more practical approach should be taken to the process of education," the expert believes. "In the future, I think, the ministry and the government will consider individual cases and consider a family's potential, the prestige of the university, the priority of the selected faculty and the personal responsibility of the students themselves."

According to Mammadov, the educational system has made great strides today - for example, the system of school competitions has been made centralized and electronic - before they were held separately. "In the future, I think that these aspects will be taken into account when sending students - for example, based on the results of the competitions, universities themselves will be choosing their students by paying their tuition. Or let universities sign contracts with each other for the exchange of students. Of course, it is not always possible to compare the level of our and foreign universities, but this is precisely the area in which we have to work," our interviewee emphasizes.

He believes the hype in society about the closure of the programme is much greater than the problem itself. "The current situation is the first step towards planned systemic and reasonable work. After all, we forget about the 300,000-400,000 students who study in our local universities and that we should first and foremost raise their level. We need to use educational models of other, developed countries - American or Finnish. In Japan, students of the second or third year are already working in major businesses, because they have creative ideas. The Ministry of Education perfectly analyzes the situation abroad, separate departments study the experience of universities and accepted models, the practice of foreign universities starting from the sports part and ending with educational work. I am mostly concerned about the quality of education, the level of teachers and the contribution to pedagogical universities and educational faculties. This is the priority in our education rather than the question of some students being unable to study abroad," Mammadov concluded.

However, today Azerbaijan is still interested in educating highly qualified specialists in the most prestigious universities of the world, which was repeatedly pointed out by President Ilham Aliyev at meetings with students educated in foreign universities. "We need to create such a situation in the field of education in Azerbaijan in which there is no need to go abroad. The initiative to send young people to foreign countries was put forward by me as a necessity... Ongoing education reforms, I believe, will soon raise the level of higher education in Azerbaijan. In this case, there will be no considerable need to go abroad. But this, of course, is not a question of today," the president said.

We would like to hope that the Ministry of Education will consider the valuable statements of the head of state.