First Day of School - September 15

We had a very big week. Last Saturday and Sunday we spent in Baku and met some very brave and outstanding people, but more on that next week. This blog is about the first week of school. Linda shares some of the week:
September 15 was the first day of school for all schools (including colleges, universities and private schools) in Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Education decides when school starts, ends and all holidays during the year. Sometimes during the school year the Ministry of Education will suddenly decide that a holiday will be extended or there will be days off from school because they say so. Last year the spring break was extended from one week to two weeks. Most countries around the world are making the school year longer so students have more instruction time. However, in Azerbaijan moving the start of school from September 1 to September 15 has shortened the school year.
The first day of school is called Day of Knowledge. You can see the beautiful flower gardens outside the school in the pictures. Students, school staff and parents all assemble outside in front of the school and have an opening ceremony. Usually some government dignitary will speak, the national anthem will be sung and pictures will be taken. A new little first form student will ride on the shoulders of an 11th form student ringing a school bell to symbolize the beginning of the school year.
That is the way it is supposed to work. At 8:00 when the opening ceremonies for my school was scheduled to begin, some teachers and students were still finding and talking about how to decorate the front of the school. A banner was put up but taken down because the front door of the school couldn’t be opened with the banner across the door. The banner was moved and then they started putting up bows and ribbons. About half way through the tape was running out; so, less tape was used. You can see students coming to the school and the little first formers with their bouquets of artificial flowers for their teachers in the pictures. About 8:30 the decorating was finished. I thought the ceremony would begin. However, we stood waiting for the dignitary to arrive. Teachers and students would keep putting up the decorations that kept falling down. At 9:10 we started without the dignitary because all the children were getting very restless and noisy and parents who had come to start their little first formers to school needed to get to work. The first formers were hitting each other on the head with the bouquets of flowers they bring to the teacher. The ceremony was nice once it started and you will see pictures of the students. We didn’t get inside until about 10:00 with the little first formers leading the way.
Once inside the school, the confusion really began. A class of 25 students would know their schedule (history, science, PE, etc.) but not know the room. I saw groups of students standing in the halls waiting for the teacher to find what room they were to go to. The halls were so crowded it was difficult to move about, but the rooms were empty. As the day progressed, it was found that there were more classes than rooms available. So, the cleaning ladies were finding desks and chairs and opening up storage rooms so classes would have rooms. Many students spent most of the day in the halls. The volume of the voices became louder and louder as the day went by.
Teachers knew the classes they would teach but had not been given a schedule or room assignments. I thought the teachers would be angry at this disorganization; but they said this was just the way the beginning of school was every year. You can see two teachers in the pictures; one in western dress and the other in her hijab (head covering). Needless to say I came home from the first day of school with my head spinning.
As the week went by, rooms were found for all the classes, teachers and students began to learn their schedules but no books were issued to students in our school. We had class four days with no books. During those four days the teachers would teach from their copy of the book, write things on the board for students to copy and read the passages from the book to the students. All the teachers thought it was terrible that the students did not have books but they knew that the librarian would issue books when she was ready.
This brings up another interesting fact about schools in some parts of the world. Jobs can be bought. A person or family can buy a job at a school. Sometimes the money goes to the director and sometimes it goes to the rayon (county) superintendent. Also, if a teacher is related to the right people, she will get a job. Often these staff members are not very qualified for the job and could not get the job on their own. Sometimes these staff members know they are secure in their jobs and will do whatever they chose to do, when they want to do it. The bottom line… there is much bribery in schools.
It was so nice to see students from last year. So many had grown taller and changed during the summer. The students wanted to know when I would start English Conversation Clubs. There were several 9th form students who had said they planned to leave school but decided to return and finish school. I was glad to see them. Last year many of them would stare at me because I was the first American they had ever seen. This year the students seem to think of me as one of the teachers. I was also glad to see the teachers too. They would speak with me and greet me in a friendly manner. Last year they didn’t seem to quite know what to think about this American teaching in their school.
I am observing in different English classes these first two to three weeks before working out my schedule. There will be schedule changes for at least two weeks I am told so there is no reason to start my schedule until the final schedule is decided.
I was disappointed to find that many English skills had been lost by most students. They usually have no one to speak English with at home so they do not use much English for three months. Because there were not any
books yet, I was able to do several English language games and activities to fill the class time this week.
Azerbaijan is behind the American educational system. A student is usually about 1-2 years behind in academics compared to their American counterpart. The school year is short, instruction can be poor, there are few materials and resources and corruption impairs the system. Even with all these drawbacks there are some very dedicated educators in Azerbaijan who are making a difference in students’ lives. There are students who are working hard to be the first in their family to finish secondary school.