Home / Azerbaijan / Schools remain closed in Azerbaijan amid COVID-19

Schools remain closed in Azerbaijan amid COVID-19

Schools

Azerbaijan shut down kindergartens, schools and universities since March 3 as part of the measures to prevent the spread of COVİD-19.

Despite the relaxation of the special quarantine regime on May 18, which allowed the re-opening a number of recreational places and lifting the restrictions on residents’ movement, educational institutions remained closed in the country as gathering of over ten people are prohibited.

It is unlikely that classes at educational institutions in Azerbaijan will resume before the end of the current academic year on June 15, Deputy Minister of Education Mahabbat Valiyeva said on April 30. She explained it by the difficulty to maintain social distancing between students in schools.

From the beginning of the closure of education institutions, Azerbaijan introduced online lessons for school and university students. Thus, all educational institutions in the country offer online classes.

Apart from this, a number of online projects have been initiated to help homeschooling.

On March 11, with the organizational support of the Ministry of Education, the “Lesson Time” project was launched, which is broadcast on the TV channels Mədəniyyət (“Culture”) and ARB Günəş. The tele-lessons cover all classes, and short explanations of the lesson topic and assignments are provided.

Likewise, the “Virtual School” project was implemented within the cooperation between the Ministry of Education and Microsoft, on April 2.

Each pupil, registered on the portal of “Virtual School”, is assigned to the class corresponding to his age and is able to do homework prepared by teachers according to the themes of TV lessons.

This portal also provides an opportunity for online lessons. At the same time, students are able to use the “Chat” function to communicate with their peers through video and audio.

The country introduced nationwide quarantine regime on March 24.

As of May 20, Azerbaijan has registered 3.518 COVID-19 cases and 41 coronavirus- related deaths so far. The total number of recovered patients is 2.198.

By Ayya Lmahamad

About Fidan Abdullayeva