2024-04-03 05:17:07
Head of the Institute of Economic Analysis, Mohammad Talibli
Among the free topics, one of the main topics I want to write about is the state of our education system and universities. But I have written and not shared a significant part. I will share when the time comes.
As time permits, I wanted to share a small part…
As an introduction, I write that it is interesting to make comparisons between university rectors in previous years and those of today. When Misir Mardanov was the Minister of Education, almost all the rectors were old people (they consider it a sign of experience) and representatives of the part nomenclature.
They were closed to discussions. They were also known for their speeches on education, where they were far from dialogue and had weak communication skills.
With some exceptions (BMU, LDU, SDU), the others who were brought to the rectory positions in higher education institutions in recent years are mainly rectors who are distinguished by their new energy and business-like character.
For decades, almost half of my life has been connected with higher education institutions. Without being immodest, I have no difficulty in reading the “interpreter” of the underlying meanings of the university environment and decisions.
I will share two incidents related to university rectors.
It happened ten years ago… We were walking in the corridor of the university where I worked with a professor whom I respected.
Suddenly, one of the guards came as if attacking us and said to us, “Hide, the rector is coming.”
Frankly, I was surprised that our Anatolian brothers said…
Touching my hands to my eyes, I thought I was dreaming. The first thing that came to my mind was that there must have been a fire in the university, so there was a lot of excitement and movement.
Later, I felt that this was artificial excitement and fear created by the rector…
Turning my face to the guard without breaking my calm manner, he said: “You are not ashamed, give some measure to your speech. Where do we go from the university?”
And without going deep, he called out, turning his face to other employees. This event created a clear idea of not only the management environment in the university, but also the social and scientific environment.
When I came and spoke sarcastically to the university staff about the incident, some of them shrugged their shoulders with “nice” indifference. Some of my colleagues, who can be counted on the fingers, said that they stand in solidarity with me. I wrote this story, which I expressed with sarcasm in the department, about the “Rector with Black Glasses” under a status from social accounts related to the university (“Facebook”). Later, the management told me that the attitude had changed to the negative, and I felt it “in my skin”.
I said “I’m not a golden ten so that everyone wants me” and I kept to my thoughts and continued to go my own way…
I am writing to get acquainted with a second thought-provoking incident.
These days I had to go to the University of Foreign Languages. This was my first contact with the university. The reason for leaving was due to students’ dissatisfaction with the teaching of a subject.
Students are taught “Sanskrit”, one of the Indo-European languages. By the way, this language is considered one of the languages belonging to the “dead languages” group. There is not even a single person who knows this language in our country.
Therefore, an Indian teacher who is one of the experts in this field was invited to the university as a teacher for this purpose. That teacher could not achieve the desired results for the students in teaching the lesson.
Since even the top and top students could not master this subject well, they appealed to the management to discuss this topic.
In the end, it was decided to discuss this topic with the rector of the university, academician Kamal Abdulla. The rector said that he is ready for this meeting. Students’ parents and relatives were invited to the meeting. I also had to go to a meeting.
I knew Kamal Abdulla in absentia. In my youth, I read books and heard speeches on literature and language on television. He was considered one of the brightest literary and linguistic connoisseurs of our youth. I was more or less aware of some of his character traits.
The meeting began… A tall man in casual clothes, with a weak smile and gray hair entered the hall. The first speech began by listening to those who voiced their grievances.
He sometimes stopped the speeches and tried to understand the essence by asking clarifying questions. Both parents and students used to emphasize correcting words in expressing their opinions.
As they say, a man of words met a man of words…
What caught my attention in the early stages was the reluctance of students and parents. Sensing the impossibility of continuing like this, I politely signaled and took my word.
I expressed how fear is no success under fear, and how detrimental it is to learning, creativity, and discussion. That’s why I said the importance of having a free discussion environment.
After my additional thoughts, the rector expressed his support and suggested that we conduct the discussion in a more free, open and comprehensive manner. Although it takes time, let’s do it with you. He asked that tea be served only to parents and not to students.
Of course, this was not only an expression of polite attitude, but a sign of willingness to spend more time to talk comprehensively and solve the topic. I felt that the rector did not accept the parents formally. He wants to clarify the situation in order to think and make a decision.
I will not dwell on the topic. If I write the details of that part, it will be extensive. But I will highlight a few interesting points. One of them is related to the characteristic features of Mr. Kemal’s image as a rector, which you should transfer to my memory.
Another is about the rector’s encouragement of reading. Mr. Kamal said that in order to motivate the students to read books, the first-year students of our university should buy the books they want related to their majors, and we will pay for them later. This is a pretty good incentive mechanism.
A rhetorical question may also arise: Vasif Talibov also made a decision “100 books to be read”. The answer to the question of whether this kitaboxuma system motivated ignorance or perfection became clear to everyone.
It is about being able to realize the student’s motivation in a symbiotic way with the administrative requirement in relation to reading. We are not talking about higher education institutions, which have increased their economic costs and forgot to buy books a long time ago.
There are 3 universities in Azerbaijan, which we (Great Britain’s “Quacquarelli Symonds” organization) made proud this year. State support should be systematically increased for all three universities that are able to enter the ranks of the world’s most ranked universities (QS).
And I say, don’t build a luxurious building and place education in it, build buildings in universities with education! (MT)