BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. There is a strong connection between higher education institutions in Azerbaijan and Russia, Deputy Minister of Education of Azerbaijan Firudin Gurbanov said at the Russian-Azerbaijani scientific and educational forum, Trend reports.
"Over 16,000 students are enrolled in Russian language programs across 26 higher education institutions in Azerbaijan," Gurbanov noted.
He pointed out that there are 324 schools in Azerbaijan where 160 thousand schoolchildren are hitting the books in Russian. Moreover, over 3 thousand schools are in the game, teaching Russian as a foreign language to around 800 thousand eager learners.
“We conduct an annual Russian language Olympiad for schoolchildren to facilitate in-depth study and promote the language. Two years prior, 3,500 individuals were involved, and this year, coinciding with the 225th anniversary of Alexander Pushkin and the 230th anniversary of Vazeh, participation has increased to over 8,000. This signifies that during the course of two years, the participation count has augmented by two and a half times,” he said.
Gurbanov also mentioned that the ink is set to dry today on the documents between Azerbaijani and Russian universities.
“The advancement of research and education in contemporary circumstances relies on integration processes and interconnections among universities. This improves the efficacy of higher education institutions, given that universities are pivotal to the socio-economic advancement of each nation. The state's future depends on the quality and extent of education afforded to the youth,” he added.