- At the heart of the successful policy of modernization of all spheres of social and economic life of the country lies this concept put forward by the Azerbaijani president: "We must modernize and enrich our country because everything in today's world is decided by knowledge, education and training. If we look at the experiences of developed nations, we will see that progress can be made not by oil or gas but knowledge, technology and education. To ensure full and rapid development of our country, we must direct capital primarily on education, knowledge and training of young people.” As a continuation of this policy, thousands of young people have been sent to foreign universities under a decree of the president dated April 16, 2007.

This year 572 Azerbaijani students were given scholarships to continue their education in prestigious universities of the world. There have been some changes and reforms in the state program for student exchange. 

Unlike previous years, the list of foreign universities and priority areas of education was confirmed by the Commission under the Azerbaijani President in February 2014, which gave students enough time to choose between the universities. As had been expected, we received no negative feedback or complaints from students on short notice. 

 

As part of reforms carried out under the presidential decree "On some measures in the organization of electronic services by state agencies”, we introduced electronic reception of applications. This helped students apply quickly and avoid unnecessary costs connected with paperwork. It also enabled us to organize effective checking of documents. Also this year, students were able to receive information from us by e-mail. 

We also attracted specialists in the selection process as per requests by applicants and organized filming of the interviews, which increased confidence in the fairness of the process. As a result, we can say with confidence that the procedure of application to and reception by the State Program was such simpler than procedures applied by many foreign universities. 

 - Building on the experience of previous years, the Ministry of Education appealed to universities and government agencies to provide specialists to participate in the selection process. The main purpose was to assess the knowledge and skills of applicants, and their knowledge of foreign languages. There had been some unfortunate cases in previous years when some students failed to cope with the curriculum of foreign universities and faced with language difficulties. This made us to act more responsibly because if a student is excluded from the State Program, he or she will have to pay back the money they received from the state for their education. To prevent unfortunate cases like these, conducting interviews with experts is very helpful I think.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Industry and Energy, SOCAR, the State Oil Fund, the Central Bank, ADA University, the State Oil Academy, the Baku branch of Moscow State University and other universities and state agencies for their help. 

- Along with high academic performance and command of foreign languages, the ideal candidate is the one who is aware of his obligations to the Azerbaijani state, who is faithful to national traditions, the ideas of patriotism and Azerbaijanism. I must say that we appreciate not only knowledge of applicants but also their critical thinking and ability to freely express their thoughts. These skills are important for our students as they will need these skills during their education abroad.