Page 44 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

THE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SCIENCES: THEORY AND PRACTICE, V.77, # 2, 2020, pp. 40-60

implemented in the higher education system to join the Bologna process. These
guidelines covered teacher training, management improvement, curriculum
development and other important areas. Although preparations for joining the
Bologna system began in 1999, the country only joined the system in 2005. In order
to implement the provisions of the Bologna Declaration, an Action Plan was
approved and covered the years 2006-2010. Also, the “State Programme on
Education of Azerbaijani Youth Abroad” for 2007-2015 was adopted and played a
great role in training highly qualified and competent professionals with world
experience in various fields for the development of the highly educated and
knowledgeable human capital of the country (Ministry of Education, 2007).
The second programme, covering 2009-2013, aimed to accelerate the process of
integration of the higher education system into the European system, to establish the
content of higher education in accordance with the Bologna process, to train highly
qualified personnel and ensure an education system that meets modern standards.
The normative-legal base of reforms in the field of education in Azerbaijan was
further improved on the basis of the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan for “On
Education” adopted in 2009.

As a result of the implemented reforms, the amount of the state budget allocated for
education has increased. In 2006, education expenditures amounted to 480 million
manat, while in 2011 these expenditures amounted to $ 1.27 billion. This accounted
for 8.2 percent of budget expenditures for that year. It should be noted that most of
these funds were spent on infrastructure, especially the construction and repair of
schools (Azerbaijan, 2020).
The foundation of modern strategic development of the higher education system of
Azerbaijan was laid in the development concept of "Azerbaijan 2020: Vision for the
Future" approved in 2012 by the decree of the President of the Republic of
Azerbaijan. In accordance with the main theme of this development strategy related
to education, in 2013 the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan approved the
“State Strategy for the Development of Education in the Republic of Azerbaijan”
(President.az, 2013). This strategy envisaged large-scale measures in 5 strategic
directions to create a system with infrastructure based on experienced teachers and
education managers, modern technologies, leading in the international rankings in
terms of quality and coverage:

- The first direction covered important goals such as enriching the content of
education and developing curricula at all levels of education
- The second direction included the training of professionals who could meet
modern standards, aiming to modernise human resources in education, the

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