decreasing points, 20 manat courses… |

“How can we teach children what we don’t know?” – The teacher of a school in Baku, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Radio Liberty about the effect of the curriculum system in secondary schools.

The application of this system in the first grades 2008-20It started from the 09th academic year. The first graduation exam of the system was held in 2016 in the 9th grades. The first graduates were in 2019.

In 28 years after the introduction of the test method in independent Azerbaijan in 1992, the lowest competition situation occurred in 2019. The low level of competition has a negative effect on the quality of admission, passing scores are calculated for majors.

What is the curriculum?

“Curriculum” is a Latin word meaning “course”, “path”. In 1918, the first curricula were created. Already in the 60s and 70s of the last century, in the world, especially USACurriculum ideas were expanded and formed as a theory. Expanding as a curriculum movement, this education the wave has also spread in the developed countries of the world.

Curriculum in Azerbaijan 2010general since education is in full force for the step.

“How can we teach children what we don’t know ourselves”

The teacher, who did not want to be named, also told Azadlig Radio that before this system was implemented, the students’ performance was higher. That he works education Most of the children who graduated in 2017 scored more than 500 points in the entrance exam, and even the weakest students were admitted to colleges free of charge.

“But in 2019, the students of the classes taught by the same teachers showed very low results. The reason for this was the introduction of the curriculum system, which has already put our half-hearted education into a state of coma. Students may have mastered e-learning methods, but this has not had a positive effect on their learning ability. Pupils Great Summative They study for the evaluation, and since it is a test method, they pass by memorization. However, in the traditional method, daily lessons were taken into account”, says the teacher.

An educator with 25 years of teaching experience explains the reason why the curriculum does not work as “they did not explain the system to the teachers, they threw the fish that cannot swim into the ocean.”

“If the Ministry of Science and Education saw the only way to enter Europe in this education system, it would prepare us first. Later we would teach the children. How can we teach children what we don’t know ourselves?”, the teacher asks.

There are those who agree

Average in Ujar district school Shalala Nuriyeva, who works as a teacher, thinks that the teaching load in the curriculum is heavy, but points to the application of the evaluation system and the corresponding criteria as the positive aspects of this system: “In the previous education system, students were given only numerical grades. This in itself led to misunderstandings between parents and teachers and students and teachers at some points. Neither the parent nor the student could fully understand the criteria for the “4” grade given to him, nor was there any official paper to prove it. Now, the formative assessment of the student is based on more criteria. That is, what the student can do perfectly, what he can do at an average level, what he can’t do. A parent becomes aware of the skills written in his child’s diary, and is more focused on his development in that direction.”

Nuriyeva says that the curriculum values ​​the student as a subject, not an object, and is a student-oriented system. He points to the excessive writing burden on teachers among the shortcomings of the system.

40 out of 60 teachers

Radio Liberty interviewed 60 teachers while preparing this article. 40 of these teachers were dissatisfied with the curriculum system, 12 were partially satisfied, and eight were in favor of the system’s implementation.

The absolute majority of dissatisfied teachers (37) say that the curriculum system does not show results due to lack of preparation. Educators believe that this system will not work unless they are taught.

According to the partially satisfied teachers, although this system has some advantages, it is not fully functional.

Eight respondents who agree consider it important for all teachers to work with new teaching methods.

52 out of 60 parents are dissatisfied

Parents also value the curriculum system differently. However, among them there are more who claim that the curriculum does not justify itself. Thus, Radio Liberty asked 60 parents whose children study in three different places of the capital, “How do you evaluate the curriculum system?” 52 parents said they were dissatisfied, and eight said they were partially satisfied.

Yagut Abbasova has three children. All three of his children studied in the same school, the last child is currently 10is in the -th grade. Abbasova told RFE/RL that children who passed the same subjects taught by the same teachers showed high results before the curriculum.

“My first daughter graduated from one of the schools in Bina settlement of the capital in 2013. 9th and 10Excellent from the 1st grade final exams prices he didn’t go to any tutor. Although he went to a course to prepare for university, he improved his knowledge and rarely got tired in class. My middle daughter also graduated from that school in the same form and won the title of student with high marks. But my third daughter studied with the curriculum system, she is very tired and has little knowledge. There are topics that teachers themselves do not understand, so they say, “Go and watch it on YouTube.” In the 9th grade, my child’s indicators were low, although he is a student, the teachers always agreed. If they don’t know this system, why are they making our children unhappy?!”, said the parent.

“According to the curriculum system, our child was supposed to study in an electronic environment, but the school he attended did not even have an electronic board,” Natig Gasimov, whose son attended elementary school in Azerbaijan and secondary school in Turkey for four years, told Radio Liberty.

Minimum 10-15 years…

RFE/RL could not get a response from the Ministry of Science and Education to the criticisms regarding the functioning of the curriculum, the institution did not respond to the request.

However, the chairman of the Association of Doctoral Students and Masters (AGADMC), educational expert Ilgar Orujov says that the Bologna curriculum system Azerbaijan Allegations about the negative impact on education are completely unfounded.

It is necessary to explain to those who say, “There is no result”, that the effect of this process will be visible in at least 10-15 years. We had no choice but to switch to the curriculum. This system Azerbaijan creates an opportunity to look at the student as an individual. I consider this system perfect, which combines the unity of theory and practice. What could be wrong with a system that allows lifelong education? …Teachers in social networks I see your displeasure. But those teachers should understand that they should be open to innovation and instead of criticizing the system, they should try to adapt to it,” the expert said.

Some educational experts emphasize that young teachers quickly adapt to the implementation of the curriculum, while older teachers engaged in pedagogical activities in Soviet education have difficulties.

Currently, men in the country retirement age It is 65. Women too retirement age He will turn 65 on July 1, 2026.

“20 Manat courses do not teach curriculum”

Kamran Asadov, an education expert, says that for 20 years, teachers have been used to traditional test tasks and lessons using the same old rules: “Therefore, it is not necessary to blame students for low results. 2017, 2018 and in 2019, 70 percent of those who participated in the exams conducted according to the curriculum standards received a “2” in their native language and mathematics. 70 percent of applicants could not answer the minimum question correctly. It can be said that there were no “5” recipients.

The expert sees the root of the problem in the fact that teachers still cannot acquire curriculum knowledge. So, one of the curriculum standards is the verification of the taught knowledge and skills with “KSQ”, “BSQ”, formatives. But teachers still conduct the examination using the traditional closed test method.

Currently, 155 thousand teachers work in more than 4 thousand 500 secondary schools. Asadov claims that only a small part of these teachers teach the curriculum. In his opinion, teachers should participate in curriculum training every six months: “Otherwise, you cannot learn the curriculum by memorizing the topic for the teacher recruitment exam conducted by the Ministry of Education and writing three to five questions, and you cannot form this modern approach in teachers with the curriculum training conducted by the Ministry of Education for 20 AZN per week.” . We cannot master the curriculum with two or three days of training for our teachers. Our teachers must participate in curriculum training for at least six months.

Dissatisfaction of officials

Officials of state institutions have also expressed concern about the implementation of the curriculum at separate times.

Former Minister of Education Mikayil Jabbarov said about the system that “this collection of documents could not become our idea of ​​education. The assessment mechanisms developed on the basis of curriculum standards not only developed students’ speaking ability, writing skills, and logical thinking, but on the contrary, they aggravated the situation by creating many contradictions and misunderstandings.

According to Maleyka Abbaszadeh, Chairman of the Ministry of Education and Culture, “For 20 years, we have taught teachers how to apply traditional test tasks and they have mastered it. However, teachers do not know how to use the curriculum system and new tools. Therefore, it is not necessary to condemn the students.”

Expenditure on curriculum funds it is not clear

3 on education expenses in the 2021 state budget billion It is planned to allocate 198.2 million manats, 3 billion 92.2 million manats funds has been used. The cost of education in the last five years (2017-2021). state budget special weight in expenses 1 billion 349.5 million manats or increased by 1.8 times.

However, until now, it has not been reported how much of the amount spent on education is spent on curriculum development. Radio Liberty could not get a response to this request from the Ministry of Science and Education.

What percentage are those who scored 500-700 points?

Although the number of high scorers among applicants is increasing, the overall proportion is a minority. So that, 2018Those who scored 500-700 points covered 9.78 percent of the total graduates. This is the highest indicator for 2014-2020. In 2019, this number was 9 percent, and in 2020, it was 8 percent.

Those who scored 100-200 points increased in 2019 and 2020. So, in 2019, about 16 percent of all graduates scored a maximum of 200 points. As for those who scored 200-300, 300-500 points, in 2015-2020 their number partially increased compared to 2014.

Education experts do not exclude the dependence of the indicators in 2020 and 2021 on the difficulties caused by the coronavirus. But they say that the low indicators in 2019 have a direct impact on the educational figures of the curriculum in the following years.

What percentage of the average graduate mastered the program?

Ministry of Foreign Affairs higher to educational institutions exam of applicants who have given Azerbaijan and drew an average portrait of Russian divisions. It became clear that the average applicant in the Azerbaijan section correctly answered 52.11 percent of the test tasks in the subject of the mother tongue, 29.77 percent in mathematics, and 37.51 percent in English.

In the Russian section, the average applicant correctly answered 57.09 percent of the test tasks in the subject of the mother tongue, 31.84 percent in mathematics, and 51.03 percent in English.

In both sections, the average applicant answered only 27-58 percent of the subject tests correctly. The Ministry of Education states that the test tasks school was prepared within the framework of the program, it was not deviated from this framework, and those who participated in the entrance exam were selected students of the school.

The institution came to the conclusion that the average graduate school does not absorb 42-73 percent of the program. The Ministry of Education explains this by the fact that the teaching process is not carried out normally in most of the general educational institutions, the demand is weak, and most importantly, the professional level of most of the teachers is low.