Publisher

Gunay Hamidova
 
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Estonia, a little nation whose economy was not flourishing in the 1990s, was resolved to 
move to a high-ability, high-wage economy and put resources into school-based data innovation 
as a component of a much bigger monetary improvement technique in light of a forceful 
utilization of data innovation. In the way of being a real member of the European Union and 
building strong economy and stable democratic society, the centre in educational reforms 
belonged to innovative and critical thinking [9]. Possibly the biggest mistake executed during the 
years of transition from totalitarianism to democracy is a blind rejection of the past. It is fact that, 
the Estonian understanding of principles, content and organization of general education for all 
educators was, and still is, affected by a Soviet legacy. That is why, it should be critically 
analysed rather than denied at all [6].
Debates and research on educational policy in Azerbaijan 
After Azerbaijan regained its independence in 1991, several researches have done in a field 
of education. The literature in 1990s shows that, the research has done in this period was 
essentially on historical evaluation of Azerbaijani education. For instance, the UNESCO’s 
country report on Azerbaijani education during years of 1991-2001 gives interesting data and 
knowledge on the problems and priorities of educational policy in Azerbaijan in 1990s [25].
Since the crash of the Soviet Union in 1991, Azerbaijan has launched several education 
reforms targeted to change Soviet education ideologies with Western style education focused on 
democracy and free market economy. As it was stated by the Ministry of Education the major 
goal of the reforms was “to reorganize the field with the demands of the emerging needs of 
market economy and future civil progress of the country”. These purposes have been distinctly 
confirmed in the Education Law 1992 (amended in 2009), which underlined the main 
foundations of education in independent Azerbaijan.
The implementation process of educational policies at the beginning was delayed by the 
political fluctuation due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (1988-1994), which has extremely 
deprived the government’s capacity to tackle expanded changes during 1990s. The course of 
education reforms was later decelerated by sudden economic crisis, hyperinflation and budget 
deficit in the early 1990s. According to UNESCO’s statistics share of education in budget in 1990s 
was 7.5%, declining to 3.8% in 2000, and 2.8% in 2010 [27]. During the time of independence the 
quality of education declined significantly increasing certain concerns on general education and 
equity issues. Reasonably, the most evident indicator of education degradation has been 
reflected by the 2006 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) study, which 
appointed Azerbaijan as one of the lowest rated countries in reading and science. In math, 
however Azerbaijan showed much better scores [19].
Above mentioned concerns on degradation of education quality, the initiatives has 
incomparably expedited since 2000s. In experience, it imposed the transition of “the post-soviet 
education reform box” – a package of internationally accepted education policies illustrating 
“modernization” of education system in the fields of management, curriculum as well as 
instructions and education process.
The part of training as a specialists or instrument of social change and social advancement is 
generally perceived today. Social change may occur – when people need change when the 
current social framework or system of social organizations neglects to meet the current human 
needs and when new materials propose better methods for addressing human needs [14]. 

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