Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 11 / Trend H.Valiyev /
The Azerbaijani Education Ministry will create a database of preschool, secondary educational and after-school educational institutions in the country, Ministry's Training Information Management System (TIMS) Head Ismayil Sadikhov told Trend.
Sadikhov said after completion, the information base will be integrated with a single educational network for the exchange of information between schools.
"In late 2010, the number of educational institutions that are connected to the educational network reached 1,000, of which about 900 are institutions of secondary education and other vocational-technical schools. This year, we plan to increase that number by another 500 units. According to the targets identified under the State program of "informatization" of the education system, all the educational institutions of the republic will have access to the educational network by late 2012. Presently, in schools where there is no access to the network, information is exchanged via email. This year, those schools, which are located in remote areas and where there is no possibility of a wired connection, will be supplied wireless solutions," he added.
There are 1.5 million pupils and 168,000 employees in Azerbaijan's secondary schools system. All information about pupils and teachers is held in the TIMS database which includes detailed information about staff, students, the structure of educational institutions, training programs and plans, alongside other data.
The database allows for a direct flow of information from schools to the Education Ministry.
One of the main issues facing Azerbaijan's secondary schools is the computerization and connection of the secondary schools in district centers to the Internet. An agreement was reached with Microsoft, which has expressed willingness to provide the necessary licensed versions of software products on a preferential basis to schools, while Intel is working on a pilot to sell netbooks to schools on credit.
Roughly, 16 million manat were spent to computerize schools and teacher training in 2010. The work was done under the state program on "informatization" of the education system of Azerbaijan in 2008-2012.
The aim is 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.