Page 47 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

Turan Suleymanov: Transformation of Higher Education in Azerbaijan: Reforms, Policies and Current Trends

programmes will be established, increasing the scientific potential of those
universities, the number of articles in prestigious journals and other related areas.
The second main direction is related to strengthening the academic capacity of
higher education institutions of the Republic of Azerbaijan. For this purpose, it
covers the solution of legal, financial and practical issues related to the education of
citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan at the doctoral level in prestigious foreign
universities (E-qanun, 2018).

CURRENT CONDITION AND MAIN TRENDS IN THE HIGHER
EDUCATION SYSTEM OF AZERBAIJAN

There are 52 higher education institutions in the Republic of Azerbaijan, 40 state
and 12 non-state (The State Statistics Committee, 2020). In order to receive higher
education in the Republic of Azerbaijan, it is necessary to complete a full secondary
education. The Azerbaijani education system underwent significant changes in terms
of content with the approval of the Bologna Process in 2005 and the Law on
Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2009 and the introduction of the
European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) for three levels of higher education.
Higher education at the bachelor's level lasts 4-5 years and requires 240-300 ECTS
credits. For medicine the requirement is 300-360 ECTS credits. To complete
education at the master's level requires 90-120 ECTS credits, and the duration of
education is 1.5-2 years. The doctoral degree, which is the third level of higher
education, is carried out in two directions: Doctor of Science and Doctor of
Philosophy. The duration of study for a Doctor of Sciences is 4-5 years, and for a
Doctor of Philosophy - 3-4 years. The full adaptation of the students to the Bologna
process has made the Azerbaijani higher education system a full member of the
European Higher Education Area (Ministry of Education, 2019).

According to the official statistics dates to the beginning of the 2018/2019 academic
year, a total of 176,723 students study in Azerbaijan in Azerbaijani, Russian,
English and Turkish languages. 161,326 of these students are studying in state
higher education institutions and 15,397 in non-state higher education institutions.
Enrolment in higher education institutions in Azerbaijan continues to grow every
year. Thus, the number of students in higher education institutions per 10,000
populations was 169 in 2017, it raised to 171 in 2018 and 179 in 2010. The vast
majority of higher education requirements in Azerbaijan are from undergraduate
students. Thus, at the beginning of 2018/2019 academic year, 42,102 students were
admitted to the bachelor's degree. The vast majority of these students (37,302) were
admitted to state higher education institutions and 4,800 to non-state higher
education institutions (The State Statistics Committee, 2020).

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