Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

Judged by the medium-term concept of socio-economic development in 2014-2017, new kindergartens of various types will open in Azerbaijan.

The draft concept was presented to the Azerbaijani Parliament (Milli Mejlis).

According to the draft, in addition to expanding the network of public kindergartens and improving their conditions and equipment, setting up pre-school facilities of various kinds -municipal, community, family, and private- are on the agenda.

According to the project, a system for monitoring and evaluating the quality of conditions and study in pre-school facilities will be created by 2017, providing ICT equipment and ICT training for teachers and staff.

Meanwhile, the decree on the approval of the State Education Development Strategy by the Azerbaijani President on October 24 also envisages mandatory one-year pre-school preparation.

The strategy's directions include providing effective education with the application of new technologies and innovative methods, creating a transparent and fair administrative system on the basis of public and private partnership, and establishing new education financing mechanisms.

Preparing new curricula for training pre-school children and realizing their creative potentials are also envisaged in the document.

Targets of the new strategy cover transition to 12-year secondary education with the preparation of special standards; introduction of compulsory one-year pre-school training of children with compulsory pre-school education covering up to 90 percent of children; creation of a system of teachers' remuneration that is competitive in the labor market and differentiated depending on qualification and results, etc.

Speaking about the shortage of pre-school educational institutions in the country, Azerbaijani Minister of Education Mikayil Jabbarov told journalists that the issue should not be solved by the state.

"The solution to this problem should be sought in cooperation with the private sector," he said.

"If the private sector is interested in pre-school educational institutions, the ministry will be ready to support such initiatives," Jabbarov said.

The key point in this issue is the compliance of the interests of these institutions and the private sector with the regulations, requirements and standards of domestic educational legislation, he added.