Changes in Compulsory Education: Potential Implications for Women
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winter 2010 THE US-EDUCATED AZERBAIJAN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Quarterly Journal CHANGES IN COMPULSORY EDUCATION: POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS FOR WOMEN HIGHLIGHTS OF PISA 2006: PERFORMANCE OF AZERBAIJANI STUDENTS IN THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL STUDY BOLOGNA DECLARATION WHERE WE ARE? THE US-EDUCATED AZERBAIJAN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION winter Letter from the Chairman and Editor 3 Quarterly Journal RESEARCH ARTICLES Changes in Compulsory Education: Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Anar Valiyev Potential Implications for Women. by Siraj Mahmudov 4 Editorial Board: Fuad Aliyev Vusal T. Khanlarov Highlights of PISA 2006: Performance of Azerbaijan Emin Huseynzade Students in the First International Study. Yusif Axundov Parvana Bayramova by Turgut Mustafayev 10 Vugar Allahverdiyev Fuad Jafarli INTERVIEW Fariz Huseynov Bologna Declaration and Where We Are? Art-Director by Asif Jahangirov 16 Iman Huseynov DEBATES AND OPINIONS Educating Girls in a Village School of Astara. © AAA. The thoughts and by Aygun Dadasheva and Kathy Taylor 22 opinions of the authors does not represent AAA’s opinion Professor, I disagree. Teaching and Learning Differently Across the Atlantic. AAA Office at American Center, by Rashad Bayramov 28 Azerbaijan University of Languages, 1st Floor, 60 Rashid Behbudov St., AZ1014, Baku, Azerbaijan Reflection of Education in Azerbaijan. by Amy Petersen 32 Tel.: (+99412) 441 01 72 E-mail: [email protected] Challenges and Opportunities for Faculty www.aaa.org.az Development in Azerbaijan. by Alison Mandaville 36 CHAIRMAN’S AND EDITOR’S FOREWORD winter Dear Readers, business strategists, professional diplomats, university professors, school teachers, and many other experts in Welcome to the first various disciplines. issue of the CONTEXT, the CONTEXT will serve as a channel for American ed‐ journal of the US Educated ucated Azerbaijani alumni to share their knowledge Azerbaijani Alumni Associ‐ and skills on various issues with wider society, to pro‐ ation (AAA). vide policy recommendations for multiple stakehold‐ AAA was established ers in Azerbaijan, including government, civil society six years ago, with one and academia. CONTEXT will also become a unique major goal ‐ to bring to‐ channel for young students, scholars and practitioners gether the alumni of vari‐ in Azerbaijan and abroad to get published on issues ous educational programs that matters for Azerbaijan, its present and future. in the United States and use Context’s first issue focuses on an issue that is im‐ their knowledge and skills for developing Azerbaijan. portant for Azerbaijan’s today and tomorrow, and an Today a whole generation of the US‐educated Azer‐ essential element for establishing strong and compet‐ baijani cadre has developed and they are working for itive Azerbaijan – education. the Azerbaijani government, private companies, and I would like to thank the CONTEXT’s editorial NGOs. Regardless of where they work, they share board, and especially to its Editor‐in‐Chief, Dr. Anar skills and knowledge acquired while in the United Valiyev for tremendous efforts towards journal’s cre‐ States with their peers, colleagues, and students; thus, ation and publication. I welcome all of our readers, continuously contribute to the development of Azer‐ and hope that the journal will be an interesting and baijan. As we commence the seventh year of our exis‐ thought‐provoking experience for all of you. tence, we feel the need for having a continuous and wider channel for publication of thoughts and views Jeyhun Karamov of our alumni – economists, public administrators, Chairman of the Board, public health professionals, education specialists, US‐Educated Azerbaijani Alumni Association Dear Friends unique chance to students, young scholars and re‐ searchers to get published. It serves as a link between This is the first issue of business, governmental, student and scholarly com‐ the CONTEXT – the journal munities. A truly interdisciplinary journal, it is essen‐ of the American Alumni tial reading for all academics, decision makers, Association (AAA). As you practitioners, students and experts. know the Association was This issue of the CONTEXT focuses on a subject created to promote a free which is attracting considerable attention everywhere, exchange of information, to but especially in developing countries ‐ education. facilitate and develop pro‐ Ever since independence, issues of education reforms fessional contacts, and to became one of the hot debated topics in Azerbaijani broaden and spread the society. Trying to feel hiatus, the journal publishes ar‐ knowledge about the ticles on various issues of education including Bologna United States in Azerbaijan. process and Azerbaijan’s realities; girls’ education in The existence of this new journal is justified. There rural areas; challenges and opportunities for faculty are many other academic and popular journals in this development, education system of Azerbaijan through field. But there are none that directly address AAA vi‐ the eyes of foreigners and few others. sionary mission: provide an active forum for exchang‐ Editorial Board of CONTEXT welcomes all readers ing ideas, sharing knowledge and information in the and hope that the journal would shed the light on fields related to Azerbaijan and the region. CONTEXT problems, challenges and opportunities facing our so‐ reflects the full range of current policy and analytical ciety. work from many disciplines and theoretical perspec‐ tives. It aims to spur research on Azerbaijan and re‐ Dr. Anar M. Valiyev, gion, encourages comparative studies and tries to give Editor‐in‐Chief Quarterly Journal | 3 CHANGES IN COMPULSORY EDUCATION: POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS FOR WOMEN CHANGES IN COMPULSORY EDUCATION: POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS FOR WOMEN INTRODUCTION After I delve into existing disparities in terms of educa‐ The law on education, approved by the Milli Majlis tional attainment, I assess the significance of two addi‐ on 19 June 2009, stipulates changing the duration of com‐ tional years of schooling of women for selected human pulsory education in Azerbaijan. This embodies making development indicators, based on which my conclusion preschool education at the age of five compulsory and is made. decreasing the upper boundary of compulsory education from complete secondary (11 grades) to general second‐ DISPARITIES IN ACCESS TO EDUCATION ary or basic education (9 grades). While the necessity and The Constitution of Azerbaijan guarantees free com‐ huge benefits of the first change is well understood and pulsory secondary (ümumi orta təhsil) education for all 6. supported almost by everybody in the society, opinions With the terminology of the previous law of 1992 this on the latter are diverse and far from being unanimous. would mean 11 grades even if the law explicitly made Previous studies, conducted mostly in the U.S. have basic education (1‐8 grades with old classification) used the changes in compulsory education laws to exam‐ mandatory requiring the rest of the children to continue ine the effects of education on earnings 1, criminal activ‐ their education in vocational schools and lyceums as well ity 2, mortality 3, subjective measures of well‐being 4 and as technikums and colleges. According to the new law, intergenerational inequality 5. In this article, my approach however, the compulsory secondary education men‐ is a little bit different. Instead of conducting a formative tioned in the Constitution, will cover 1‐9 grades. The assessment, I would like to highlight some of the poten‐ main difference between the old and new laws in this re‐ tial after‐effects this important change might bring about. gard, as can be seen, is that there is no requirement in the Nothing is more unequal than equal treatment of unequal people. Thomas Jefferson 4 www.aaa.org.az winter latter to continue education in any form after the ninth grade. This particular change is proposed to come into force in ten years. Full implementation of compulsory education, i.e. coverage of all the secondary school age children with ei‐ ther complete secondary schools or vocational schools/technikums have hardly been the case in Azer‐ baijan after independence, which can be substantiated by a simple audit of official enrolment and graduation fig‐ ures. Of 152,690 children completing the ninth grade in 2005 7, 6,547 were admitted to technikums 8, 4,706 to vo‐ cational schools and lyceums 9. So the rest, 141,437 school children, as one can expect, were supposed to continue and complete the 11th grade taking into account the very low repetition rates. However, only 117,893 school chil‐ dren completed full secondary education in 2007 sug‐ gesting that about 23,544 or 15% of graduates of basic education somehow dropped out. This percentage goes up to 18% when the above calculation is applied respec‐ tively to 2006 and 2008. In fact, this is in line with the esti‐ mations of teachers in some schools that 20 % of children leave school after grade nine 10. Yet here we take into ac‐ count neither the actual attendance rates nor quality is‐ Siraj Mahmudov is a Programme sues. The Census of 1999 is too obsolete to base our infer‐ and Planning Specialist at the ences regarding background characteristics of who drop out whereas the more recent Demographic and Health UNICEF Country Office in Azerbai‐ Survey 2006 (AzDHS) can give some hints in this regard. jan dealing with situation assessment, If we take the age group of 20‐24, it can be seen that as of 2006 one out of every fourth female (25%) did not get any social and economic policy analysis, schooling after the ninth grade while males fared better monitoring and evaluation related to in this term (17%). Especially worrying is the fact that 3.4% of women 15‐16 and 1.3% of men of the same age children and women. Currently he is had received no education at all. Males and females in involved, inter alia, in creation of evi‐ urban settlements and in richest families do much better in terms of school attainment, but in each category dence base for investments in early women have poorer outcomes.