Page 54 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

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

INCREASING IMPORTANCE OF INTERNATIONAL ACCREDITATION
Internationalisation and a competitive market have also been putting pressure on
Azerbaijani higher education institutions on accreditation of their study programmes
by international organisations. UNEC and ADA University are currently working on
accreditation of their study programmes. ASOIU has already got a five study
programmes accredited by FIBA (ASOIU, 2020).

SHIFT FROM SPECIALISED UNIVERSITIES TO MULTI-FACULTY
UNIVERSITIES

Traditionally, the majority of higher education institutions of Azerbaijan were
specialised in one or two disciplines. Such specialisations have been divided into
economics (UNEC), polytechnic (Technical University), medicine (University of
Medicine), pedagogy (ASPU) or other area specific higher education institutions.
However, there is a tendency towards multi-faculty universities. For instance,
ASOIU has started to offer study programmes in business and managements. UNEC
has recently established two new faculties – “Digital Economy” and “Engineering”
and in 2020 UNEC has started to offer 9 new study programmes in engineering and
IT disciplines (UNEC, 2020). ADA University started as a diplomatic academy, but
currently offers business and engineering programmes at Business School and
Engineering Schools (ADA University, 2020). Despite initial objectives since their
establishment and their traditional specialisation, universities have been expanding
their study programmes to new areas and disciplines.

SHIFT FROM TEACHING UNIVERSITIES TO RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES

Since independence, Azerbaijani universities have been characterised by low
research activities. A review of the top five universities profiles on QS EECA
rankings also confirms their low research output. However, there has been a
tendency towards increasing the research at higher education universities. The
Ministry of Economy has recently facilitated a contract between a consortium of
Azerbaijani Universities and both Elsevier (Ministry of Education, 2020) and
Clarivate companies (Ministry of Education, 2017) The government has also
adapted a new bill to provide research university status to higher education that
would provide certain privileges and advantages. This is another motivation for
Azerbaijani universities to follow further steps.

SHIFT TO ONLINE LEARNING AND ICT APPLICATION IN LEARNING,
TEACHING AND ADMINISTRATION

The Azerbaijani government has been investing in the formulation of a strategy
concerning application of ICT in the education sector. National Strategy on

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