Reijo Aholainen, Resident Twinning Advisor
EU-Azerbaijan EHEA Twinning project – in front of a new phase
The EHEA Twinning project is now progressing at a full speed. Progress reviews and gap analysis have been concluded as one third of the project time has passed. European and Azerbaijani experts have drafted numerous recommendations, which are now under scrutiny in the Ministry.
The new project homepages, which you are looking now, mark a new phase in the EHEA Twinning project. Their purpose is to enhance communication and support networking among Azerbaijan Higher Education Institutions and to promote consciousness of EHEA reforms.
Capacity building, training of experts of the Ministry and higher education institutions has been the main focus in the EHEA Twinning project this spring. More than 550 teachers, officials and other experts have participated in project’s trainings and workshops on ESG, learning outcomes, quality assessment, standards and curricula, as well as and qualifications and qualification frameworks. As a part of the training, a group of Azerbaijan experts will make one-week study visit to Helsinki and Tallinn in June.
At present, preparing a draft for Azerbaijan Standards and Guidelines for higher education quality assurance (AzSG) is the main issue. The objective is to draft document which will be tested in three universities. The work will be a joint effort of European top experts of quality assurance and an Azerbaijan drafting group appointed by the Ministry of Education. Azerbaijan experts have been specially trained to make quality evaluations and to take part in the international evaluation teams. After the pilot evaluations, the draft AzSG document will be improved on the basis of evaluation experiences. It will be one of the key results of EHEA Twinning. The purpose is to give the competent Azerbaijan authorities a firm basis to decide on the future quality assurance in Azerbaijan higher education.
