The EHEA Twinning project started in April 2016 working on one of its main objectives: to develop quality assurance in Azerbaijan higher education in line with the ESG. The objective is to assist the Azerbaijan Ministry of Education and the Azerbaijani higher education institutions to elaborate a proposal for the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Azerbaijan (AzSG). The ambitious aim of this activity is more that prepare a proposal, the purpose is also test how feasible the proposal will turn out to be when it is experimented in three Azerbaijan universities. EHEA Twinning project and the Azerbaijani Ministry of Education have agreed on setting an Azerbaijani drafting group to prepare a preliminary draft manual for pilot evaluations.
The drafting group had a 3-day-workshop in Quba at the end of May 2016. The workshop produced a preliminary draft for the manual. It was agreed that the pilot evaluations will have a clear institutional approach and focus on teaching and learning. Main areas in pilot evaluations will be (i) strategic and organisational management (mission statement, quality policy, development plan); (ii) design and development of study programmes (a sample of. two programmes from different units); (iii) teaching and learning (educational needs, flexible learning opportunities); (iv) research and development (R&D objectives, links between research and education); (v) the academic staff (qualifications, achievement of learning outcomes, quality of teaching and learning); and (vi) students (supporting student-centred learning, flexible modes of learning and teaching). The draft evaluation manual has been discussed with Azerbaijan Advisory Group, invited by the Ministry of Education, consisting of senior officials of higher education institutions and the Ministry of Education. The draft document has been translated into Azerbaijan language. You will find both language versions in our web-page, part Documents.
The draft will be further developed during the summer (you can send your comments and contributions also through our website!). At the end of August, our Twinning project will arrange a seminar for the pilot universities (Azerbaijan State Economic University, Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University, Azerbaijan Technical University) and the Advisory Group. The seminar will discuss the updated version of the manual and – hopefully – agree upon the evaluation criteria. In addition, further seminars and trainings will be arranged in autumn 2016, primarily in the pilot universities. The evaluation manual shall be tested in practice in the evaluation of Azerbaijani pilot universities in spring 2017. On the basis of the analysis of the experiences of the pilots, the EHEA Twinning project and Azerbaijan stakeholders will prepare their final proposal for the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Azerbaijan (AzSG) in summer 2017.
