Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 21 / Trend H.Valiyev /
More 294 schools were connected to broadband Internet in Baku, the Azerbaijani Education Ministry's information system management told Trend on Tuesday.
Total number of schools connected to the Internet reached 500 units, including 31 schools in Hajigabul, Salyan and Sabirabad, 64 schools- Yevlakh, Goranboy, Mingechevir, Shamkir and Ganja, 24 schools - Shabran, Khachmaz, Guba , 8 schools - Lankaran , 10 schools Goychay and Shamakhi, 17 schools - Sheki and 52 schools - Sumgait .
All of these schools are automatically connected to the educational network AzEduNet, which provides the educational institutions with speed access to e-educational resources and the management systems placed in the Education Ministry's Information Resource Centre.
Another 500 educational institutions are expected to join the network AZEDUNET by late 2011.
Roughly 16 million manat will be spent to computerize schools this year with much of the money spent on providing 500 schools with a high-speed Internet connection and on teacher training, Education Minister Misir Mardanov said earlier.
The ministry is working to implement the next stage of the computerization of the secondary educational institutions. It planned to conduct a series of tenders for the purchase of computer and networking equipment to connect to the Internet that will significantly increase the number of schools equipped with ICT.
According Education Ministry statistics, there is now one computer for every 20 pupils in Azerbaijan, 60 times more than there was five years ago when there was only one computer for every 1,036 pupils in the country.
The work is carried out under the state program on informatization of the Azerbaijani education system in 2008-2012.
The Education Ministry aims to create a unified educational-information space to improve the quality of education and to integrate Azerbaijan into the global system of education. The outcome will be the effective management of the country's education system, as well as creating contacts with foreign educational institutions via the Internet.
Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at: [email protected]