The idea of going outside of Baku came originally from the Azerbaijan Education Ministry people and it was easy to persuade the European experts. First, there were several ideas on the purpose and on the venue. Finally, these were concretised as drafting a proposal of the evaluation manual for the evaluation of Azerbaijan pilot universities and as Quba. The composition of the drafting group was jointly decided by the European and Azerbaijani project leaders. Later, the participant list was completed with senior officers of the Ministry as well as the new Azerbaijan ‘Accreditation and Nostrification Office’ and the EHEA Twinning office. In the morning of departure, we were exited to gather in front of the Memorial statue, at the 20th of January, to continue on a bus to Quba. Our purpose was to have a three-day intensive seminar concerning primarily for the drafting of an evaluation manual for Azerbaijani pilot universities. Everyone was conscious, I think, that on a longer perspective, the outcome would make the basis for drafting the future AzSG.
The idea of common rules of quality assurance of higher education is not new. It has been one the main objectives of the Bologna Process since 2003. The Ministers responsible of higher education mandated in Berlin 2003 the ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in higher education), together with other major the European higher education associations, to develop standards and guidelines on quality assurance. In 2005, the Bergen Ministerial Conference adopted the European Standards and Guidelines for quality assurance in higher education. Since then, the ESG document (‘ESG’ stands for ‘Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area’) has become a main tool for the EHEA. While Azerbaijan in practice has been a member of the Bologna / EHEA process since the ESG was agreed, the implementation of its principles and instruments in Azerbaijan is a bit behind the latest update of the ESG, adopted in May 2015. That may have been a major factor why our EHEA Twinning project was created. There is no doubt that many of the ideas of are implemented in Azerbaijan, but as far as the ESG is concerned, there are still things to do.
The Quba work camp proved a success. At start, the agenda was filled with the experts’ lectures of the ESG and consequent debates on how they could be embedded in present Azerbaijan higher education landscape. But soon the emphasis removed to working small groups preparing suggestions of appropriate evaluation criteria. This was the best part and it was most helpful that the Ministry directors, Natig and Emin, joined in this part of the work.
But Quba was not only about drafting, it was also a social happening where Finnish and Estonian participants on one hand and the Azerbaijani experts on the other hand, learned to know each other much better. We worked together, had our meals together, and had sports, hiking and other interactions together. It was no more so important which language you speak, when we played volley ball or football together o supported each other to climb the hills. I learned to know all the Azerbaijan experts much better and I am happy to have them among my friends. They are such nice persons with wide knowledge of different walks of life. The Economic University annex in Quba was well prepared to host us and provide good opportunities for our workshop.
The major lesson learned was that common interaction and communication is essential for common understanding and future commitment of reforms. The commitment of the Ministry and the universities is the alfa and omega here. In Estonia, the reforms were implemented straight ahead, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Thus, it is not impossible to do so. Even here.
