Azerbaijan 5.2
Jul 25

Azerbaijan 5.2

  • July 25, 2019

To describe artistic education in schools, we must consider general education schools where specific hours a week are devoted to cultural education and specialised schools in which some areas of the arts are the priority. The field is regulated by the Law on Education (No.833-IIIQ of June 19, 2009), the Law on General Education (No.1532-VQ of March 29, 2019), the new edition of State standards of general education in the Republic of Azerbaijan (No.361 of September 29, 2020) and the new Model Charter of a General Educational Institution Established by the State and Municipality (No.300 of June 13, 2024). The management of the educational process in secondary schools is carried out by the State Agency for Preschool and General Education under the Ministry of Science and Education.

Four curricula prepared by the Institute of Education under the Ministry of Science and Education are devoted to culture and the arts at the national level:

  • Educational Program (Curriculum) on Music for I-IX Grades of Secondary Schools of the Republic of Azerbaijan;
  • Educational Program (Curriculum) on Fine Arts for I-IX Grades of Secondary Schools of the Republic of Azerbaijan;
  • Educational Program (Curriculum) on Literature for V-XI Grades of Secondary Schools of the Republic of Azerbaijan;
  • Educational Program (Curriculum) on Life Knowledge for III, IV, VIII and IX Grades of Secondary Schools of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Listed educational programs teach these disciplines to pupils of relevant secondary school grades in the volume of weekly lessons, each of a standard duration of 45 minutes. The primary purpose of systematically teaching these educational programs in secondary schools is to provide aesthetic education and training for pupils based on the best examples of national and world music, fine arts, and literature and to instil communication, behavioural, and cultural values within life knowledge. Education at state schools is free and compulsory for children between the ages of six and fifteen – they are entitled to nine years of mandatory general education. The general education system in the Republic of Azerbaijan consists of Primary education (grades 1–4, ages 6–9), Basic education (grades 5–9, ages 10-14) and Secondary education (grades 10–11, ages 15-16).

Specialised schools, such as the Secondary Music School named after Bulbul, the Secondary Specialised Music School-Studio of the Baku Music Academy named after U. Hajibeyli, and the Art Gymnasium under the Azerbaijan National Conservatory, form a symbiosis of general secondary education and an 11-year music school. The middle level of the Baku Choreographic Academy, under the Ministry of Culture, offers general secondary and general choreographic education.