Quality in education is a system of values, a position and a culture. It changes the existing form and permanence of the evolutionary efforts. Quality is a process. The concept of quality enhancement is more important than simple quality assurance and quality control.

As with other former Soviet Union states, Azerbaijan had an historical commitment to higher education. That commitment however, was relatively rigid in process, with minimal scope for institutional innovation, initiative and self-reliance. Teaching was fundamentally didactic in form with little attention paid to the learning needs and processes of the students.

This is changing. Led by Azerbaijan's oil and other material resources, it is at the forefront of substantial economic and social developments, including higher education. But such transformation is not easily accomplished in the short term. Adequate financial resources are currently unavailable to the Education sector. Azerbaijani higher education needs opportunities to 'learn by example' according to international 'best practice'. This Center is established to impact national context through direct application within Khazar University as well as through wider dissemination.

Tempus Projects

2011-2014

Documentation for Quality Assurance of Study Programmes

The project aims to define and to implement an on-line documentation system for the QA of SPs in the Partner Countries (PCs), consistent with the European Standards and Guidelines for QA.

Project coordinator: 

University of Genoa

Project participants:

Baku State University

Khazar Univeristy

Azerbaijan Medical University

Ministry of Edication of Azerbaijan

Odlar Yurdu University

Qafqaz University

Kazakh Leading Academy of Architecture and Civli Engineering

Kazakh "Ablai Khan" University for International Relations and World Languages

Kazakh National Technical University N.A. K.I.Satpayev

Eurasian National University N.A.L. Gumilyov

Independent Kazakhstan Agency for Quality Assurance in Education

National Center for Assessing Quality of Education

Ministry of Education and Science of Republic of Kazakhstan

Kyrgyz National University N.A. Jussup Balasagyn

Bishkek Academy of Finance and Economics

Education Network Association

Ministry of Education and Science of Kyrgyz Republic

Naryn State University

Tajik Institute of Entrepreneurship and Services  

Tajik National University 

Technological University of Tajikistan

Ministry of Education of Republic of Tajikistan

Universitaet Duisburg - Essen

CRUI - Conference of Italian University Rectors

Consorzio inter-universitario calcolo automatico italiano N.O.

Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava

University of Alicante

Outcomes:

DoQuP Model for the quality assurance of study programmes

2008

Tempus project “Designing Quality Assurance Systems in Azerbaijani Universities” enhanced the Quality Assurance Center at Khazar University by establishing Centers for Quality Assurance at Baku State University and State University of Languages.

Intensive cooperation with the University of Winchester (UK) Carlos III University (Spain) and the University of Warsaw (Poland) resulted in Azerbaijani training, supervision and expert support in quality assurance.

1999-2001

The Tempus Tacis Compact Project  “Quality Assurance Centre Development at Khazar University” was implemented in cooperation with Nottingham Trent University (UK) and Haarlem University (Netherlands).