Emin Amrullayev explains the reason for overcrowding in central schools in the capital

There are 80,000 classes across the country, but in only 600 of them does the number of students exceed 40, which amounts to less than 1% of the total. These figures were cited by Minister of Science and Education Emin Amrullayev during a press conference dedicated to the start of the new school year.

The head of the ministry drew attention to the subjective nature of the problem, noting that the overcrowding of specific educational institutions is often linked not to a shortage of places in general, but to the personal choice of parents. According to him, there are always free places in the neighboring school, yet parents persistently strive to send their child to the class of a particular teacher or to drive him by car to a large school in the city center, instead of choosing an educational institution close to their place of residence.

«That is, the parent has a choice so that his child would not be the 43rd, 45th or 47th student in that class, but would become the 22nd child in another class», - the minister explained, adding that the statistics available to him refute the myth of the elitism of individual schools, since in all educational institutions of Baku there are both strong students and those who study more poorly.

Amrullayev emphasized that the problem of overcrowding arises in only two cases: when a densely populated area has too small a school, and then the construction of new buildings is necessary, or when families artificially create a stir around prestigious institutions. In the latter situation, the ministry recommends that parents turn to nearby schools with lower enrollment.