Before the conference, the management and associates of the SEC visited the tomb of national leader Heydar Aliyev in the Alley of Honor. SEC associates put flowers at the tomb of the National Leader and paid tribute to his memory.
The main purpose of the conference is to share achievements and experience in the field of education assessment and civil service, as well as to hold discussions on relevant issues.
The conference is expected to involve more than 200 representatives from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Egypt, the Republic of South Africa and Kenya, as well as various international organizations.
The National Anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan was played at the official opening ceremony of the conference.
Then, a video clip dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Centre was shown.
Opening the conference with an introductory speech, the Chairperson of the Board of the State Examination Center, Maleyka Abbaszade, welcomed the guests and noted that these 10 years are an important stage in the development of an organization that has become an integral part of the lives of millions of our citizens. However, the chairperson emphasized that our history does not consist only of these 10 years, it began much earlier - from the moment a principled political choice was made in favor of creating an assessment system based on knowledge, not subjective decisions, in the country. “Building on the far-sighted strategy laid down by National Leader Heydar Aliyev and further advanced today by President Ilham Aliyev, we translated that choice into concrete institutional solutions”.
The chairperson particularly noted the invaluable contributions of First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva to the development of national education and support for youth. “Her initiatives to modernize the educational environment have become a powerful incentive for us to create a humane and fair assessment system,” the chairperson said.
The chairperson added that we have reached an agreement with society on the most important issue: by constantly improving assessment mechanisms, we pave the way for talents and ensure the triumph of the principle of justice.
M. Abbaszadeh noted that over the past 10 years, more than 6 million people have passed through the exam halls, and this is not just statistics - it is the educational and life trajectory of an entire generation, and that the SEC has ceased to be a selection mechanism for university admission and has become an important element of the justice infrastructure.
The chairperson also emphasized that his conceptual views are aimed at a complex assessment of personality - that is, "Holistic Assessment", and that tools that allow assessing cognitive abilities, social competencies, emotional intelligence and psychological adaptability have already been successfully applied in "Yukselish" and other projects.
In addition, the chairperson brought to the attention of the participants that the SEC is part of the global assessment system, while at the same time preserving and strengthening our cognitive sovereignty, the development of national standards such as the Azerbaijani Language Certification Exam, and the creation of our own competency models are our contributions to the international professional dialogue.
At the end of her speech, M. Abbaszade thanked the country's leadership for the trust and comprehensive support shown to the organization and expressed his gratitude to the partners, state agencies, educational institutions, the expert community and all citizens who have trusted the SEC assessment system for many years, as well as to everyone who gathered here this week and made Baku a centre for discussions on educational assessment again.
Speaking later, Minister of Science and Education Emin Amrullayev stressed the importance of organizing such an international event in the field of assessment in Baku and noted the crucial role of the centralized examination model in our country in terms of transparency and creating competition among participants. E. Amrullayev expressed his belief that the conference would be a convenient platform to share our best practices in the field of educational assessment and discuss the common problems we face.
Bayram Ali Ersoy, President of the Turkish Center for Measurement, Selection and Placement (ÖSYM), noted that he was pleased to come together here today to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the State Examination Center and assessed this significant meeting as not only the anniversary of one institution, but also a meeting of institutions that share a common past and a common future in the field of measurement and assessment.
B.A. Ersoy noted that the State Examination Center has transformed into a regionally influential examination organization in a short period of time, carrying its strong experience dating back to the 1990s into the future with an institutional vision. “The approach of the State Examination Center based on transparency, reliability and scientific foundations is an important reference point for all of us today. The theme of the conference, “Trust, Transparency and Innovation”, is one of the main missions not only of the State Examination Center, but I am sure that of all the examination centers represented here,” the head of the ÖSYM emphasized.
The following speakers - President of the International Association for Educational Assessment Mafu Rakometsi, Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Astana Civil Service Hub Alikhan Baymenov, Deputy Chairman of the Agency for Civil Service Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Alibek Akhmedyar, Deputy Director of the Agency for Management Efficiency under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Muzaffar Akramov, Deputy Director of the National Testing Center under the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan Talgat Niyazov, Advisor to the Director General of the Agency for Assesment of Knowledge and Qualifications under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovations of the Republic of Uzbekistan Khayitov Abduvoxob, Director of the Independent Agency for Accreditation and Rating of Kazakhstan Alina Zumagulova expressed their confidence that the conference will become a tool for professional exchange in the field of educational assessment and civil service and will play a stimulating role.
The opening ceremony also featured a video address by Amra Sabik-El Rayess from Columbia University (USA) on “Values that Assessment Systems Should Protect in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.”
A Memorandum of Intent on Strengthening Cooperation in Educational Assessment and Examinations among Examination Centers of the Turkic States Organization Member States was also signed at the conference.
Later, the keynote speaker of the conference, Hanan Khalifa, Chairwoman of the Education Committee of the Egyptian Presidential Council, delivered a speech on “Assessment Literacy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Building Skills to Ensure the Effectiveness of Reforms.”
The conference will continue its work on panel discussions with the participation of local and international experts. The panel discussions were devoted to the strategic role of assessment in the modern education system, personnel policy in the era of mass examinations and digitalization, and human capital development.
After the panel discussions, presentations on more than 20 topics will begin and will continue until 5:00 p.m. The sessions will cover topics such as writing assessment, assessment systems in foreign countries, international assessment studies, language assessment, creativity and skills assessment, selection of civil servants, competency-based assessment in civil service recruitment, electronic examination systems, etc.
