Page 41 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

Turan Suleymanov: Transformation of Higher Education in Azerbaijan: Reforms, Policies and Current Trends

attributed to the introduction of a new market economy, the consolidation of a new
nation state, economic decline, political instability and a decline in public funding,
resulting in a brain drain (Huisman et al., 2018). In addition, armed conflict with
Armenia and Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh during the first decade of
independence had plunged the country into a severe economic and social crisis.
The newly established Azerbaijani government has had to overcome all of the above
difficulties while building a higher education system which is completely different
from the Soviet system and with the removal of communist ideology. The Soviet
system of higher education was characterised by tight state control, organisational
integration, and policy coordination. Therefore, higher education and academic
research in this period was impacted by destructive political and ideological
interventions from certain factions within the Communist Party and Soviet State
(Vucinich, 1984; Graham, 1993). The existence of parallelism, inefficient use of
human and financial resources and artificial barriers were also key components of
the higher education system. The organisational structure of higher education was
divided among the different sectors of the national economy. Students were
presented with a rigid and narrow vocational and professional curriculum (Ushakov
& Shuruev, 1980). And lastly, like the Soviet system of higher education, research
was impeded by inescapable militarisation, which resulted in state financing which
was slanted toward specific military needs, with the result that the entire system of
postsecondary research institutions were closed off from all external contact,
frequently within ''shut'' urban communities (Dezhina and Graham, 2002).

In addition to the national and regional challenges, Azerbaijani higher education also
has had to respond to the global trends and changes within higher education systems.
Academic systems in both developed and developing countries have been facing
uniquely different challenges and forces of fierce competition and social demand.
(Clark, 1983; Goedegebuure et al., 1994). Therefore, the focus of public policy
mainly required finding an appropriate balance between social demands,
governmental regulation, and university autonomy. In this regard, competition and
competitive markets has been playing a central role on the policy debates
instruments. (Dill and Sporn, 1995). Competitive markets would require support of
government policies as they relate to the protection of property rights, the fight
against monopoly behaviour and enforcement of contract. In the case of higher
education, it has mainly resulted in public good. However, privatisation of higher
education also increases the perception of higher education as a private privilege and
in many cases the higher education system is considered a government monopoly.
This forces the national government to ensure policy reforms including the
introduction of a competitive market structure within the higher education market.

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