К основному контенту

How to reduce the skills gap in Azerbaijan's education system?

Standardized National Entrance exams for universities limit the development of Azeri students’ higher-order thinking skills. Most people agree that the testing system for university entrance, brought a fair, transparent assessment and meritocracy to our education system, as, before this policy implementation, there was a high level of corruption in the admission system to higher education. Jacques Hallak mentions Azerbaijan’s this policy as a successful measure of reducing fraud in entrance examinations. (Hallak, 2007, p.7) However, it has big advantages by overcoming corruption, side effects of standardized tests are also unavoidable.  However, the new curriculum has a constructivist approach, lessons are mostly teacher-centered and focused on memorization, as the entrance exam tests mostly contain lower-order thinking skills, such as memorization and calculation. As a result, we could see gaps in the skills of our students and students of higher developed countries.  

 

Nine years ago, in 2012 I took the entrance exam in the 3rd group which contained humanitarian subjects. I would like to bring examples from questions on History subject that were based on rote memorization. You could see questions about chronological order, and dates which were checking students’ memory and knowledge of facts. Nine years passed, but again we can see the same kind of questions only with little decorative changes with the same content and the same approach to assessment. As you know the goal of learning history is to develop analytical skills, to prepare future professionals such as diplomats, and politicians to analyze historical events, and to prepare new policies based on their background knowledge. But could a person with only brilliant memorization skills, analyze and make decisions as required by this kind of professionals? Is it a fair skill assessment? As in History, every subject has its purpose, and assessment of skills should be adjusted to this purpose

 

Thanks to our new curriculum, we could find questions requiring analytical, higher-order thinking skills in textbooks. Still, in reality, students spend at least their last two years of school on the preparations for entrance exams, rather than actively participating at school lessons, and practicing their skills due to the tasks given in textbooks, as they know that school performance doesn’t have a great impact on university entrance. Teachers are also struggling, with whether to educate their students or to prepare them for entrance exams. In the end, we could see students who lost two years on useless skills and are not suitable for modern life requirements

 

In order to reduce this skills gap, questions for entrance exams should be evaluated by experts, and new questions should be conducted to assess higher-order thinking skills such as comparing, analyzing, problem-solving, and critical thinking. As a result, students will be engaged in higher-order thinking skills while preparing for entrance exams, rather than losing their time on rote memorization. 

 

Also, alternative instruments should be applied rather than only using paper-based tests, by increasing the role of school performance in university admissions. For example, university admissions could cover several stages where a holistic approach will be used, including school performance and results of centralized entrance exams. Some very useful tasks and questions could be used to develop students’ higher-order thinking skills in the textbooks according to the new curriculum. If this instrument is used effectively the goal for the skill gap will be reduced. To address this issue assessments of students’ portfolios, projects, teamwork, and peer review should be fairly assessed by teachers. To reach equitable skill delivery and fair assessment at schools teachers should be highly trained, and teacher salary should depend on teachers’ skills rather than experience. It will build a meritocratic environment among teachers at schools and also affect student achievement. 

But decentralization and the role of individuals could bring a great risk of corruption. Low teacher salary is a motivation for taking bribes. By raising teacher salaries and setting an accountability system that will investigate and sanction potential misbehavior in every school, the risk for corruption could be reduced. But without changes in the mindset of society, this risk always exists. Society should decide what do they want: a new generation with high skills compatible with modern life or students with high marks but not ready for the modern labour market.


 


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