New opportunity for partnership in education

BP on behalf of its partners in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC), Shah Deniz and South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) projects, and UNICEF signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Baku on June 19 to confirm their intention to cooperate within a planned major educational initiative. 

The project called “Partners in Education” is designed to support the country in initiating and implementing projects aimed at creating new educational models. 

The MOU enables the two parties to work together with other stakeholders, which include the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Emergency Situations, to develop new effective school models. The scope of the project specifically focuses on the establishment of new comprehensive child-seeking school models in the Kurdamir, Ujar, Agdash, Yevlakh, Samux, Goranboy, Shamkir and Tovuz districts along the BP-operated BTC and SCP pipelines. 

It is planned that the project will include four components: Family Education Centres (for early learning of pre-school-aged children), inclusion (access to school for children with disabilities), disaster preparedness, and hygiene and sanitation.

It is expected that ultimately the project will create demonstration models to improve the education system increasing learning outcomes and raising the quality of education.

The MOU was signed by Gordon Birrell, BP’s Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, and Mark Hereward, UNICEF Representative in Azerbaijan.  Additionally, UNICEF signed action plans with the two government stakeholders – the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Emergency Situations, outlining the roles of each participant in the project. 

Addressing the MOU signing ceremony held in Baku today, Mr Birrell said: “If this partnership succeeds we believe that we will have helped establish a new and effective community-based school model in the regions concerned – and by so doing increase opportunity for young people in Azerbaijan. Success, for us, will be seeing these new models work in practice and be introduced on a sustainable basis across Azerbaijan”. 

Mr Hereward said: "UNICEF believes that partnerships are critical to delivering results for children and to realizing their rights. We are very excited to have this opportunity to collaborate with the Government and BP to create models of great schools to help educate children of Azerbaijan."

Bakudaily.az