education projects in azerbaijan

• Compendium of Promising Practices

Enhancing Access to Preschool Education in Azerbaijan: Initiatives and Achievements

Executive summary.

In January 2022, after 10 years of the local Executive Powers overseeing public preschools (kindergartens), the Ministry of Science and Education in Azerbaijan recognized the limited access to preschool education and its importance. Consequently, the Ministry launched a school preparedness programme for 5-year-old children in 2016. This initiative saw a remarkable 90% increase in the number of 5-year-olds participating in the programme.To further improve access to preschool education, the Community-based preschool education project was initiated in 2017 with funding from UNICEF Azerbaijan, EU Azerbaijan Delegation, and Heydar Aliyev Foundation. This project aimed to provide equal preschool education by establishing 850 community-based preschool centers, primarily in remote villages and regions. As a result, approximately 16,000 children between the ages of 3 and 5 were able to attend these centers.

Implementation

The Ministry of Science and Education´s School Preparedness programme provides three daily classes covering literacy, art, and physical activities. These classes run four days a week from October 1st to May 31st and are taught by primary school teachers to ensure a smooth transition to primary education.The Community-based Preschool Education Project, located at secondary schools, operates four days a week for 2-3 hours per day from October to May. Teacher candidates undergo a two-stage selection process involving a psychological test and interview. Once hired, teachers engage in professional development trainings three times a year, including hybrid methods to enhance their skills. The programme also offers educational workshops for parents, with materials in the local language available on the ilk5il.az website. Collaboration with parents, school staff, and various educational initiatives creates a supportive environment, while parents actively support teachers at the centers. To enhance their knowledge, teachers receive a pedagogical course on ECCE, and IT training is provided to improve their technological skills. The Education Institute serves as the primary implementer of this project.

Stakeholders and partners involved

School Preparedness programme: Beneficiaries: 5-year-old children, their parents, and schools Approximately 90% of 5-year-old children nationwide participate in school preparedness classes In the 2021/2022 school year, 16.000 children attended the community-based preschool centers There are 850 groups primarily located in regions and villages Funding for the project was provided by UNICEF Azerbaijan, EU Azerbaijan Delegation, and H. Aliyev Foundation

Both the School Preparedness programme and the Community-based Preschool Education Project have a positive impact on children´s academic achievements, as reported by the Education Institute in 2016 and confirmed through interviews with primary school teachers involved in the Community-based preschool education project. Furthermore, the community-preschool education project has a significant impact on empowering women, enhancing their employability, and promoting their personal development.

Innovations

Forging strong partnerships with government entities and donor support.

The project is supported by donors, prompting collaboration between the Ministry of Science and Education and other government entities to ensure its sustainability and expand the model to additional locations.

Constraints

The main obstacles to the replication of the successful community-based preschool education model are financial and managerial nature. The Ministry of Science and Education is actively working to resolve these issues to expand access to preschool education in the country.

Related items

• Region: Europe and North America
• Themes: Inclusion, quality and well-being
• Themes: Policy, governance and finance
• Keywords: care services
• Keywords: curricula
• Keywords: digital, hybrid, and remote learning
• Keywords: implemented policy
• Keywords: learning outcomes
• Age group: 3-6
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EU, UNDP, Government of Azerbaijan promote inclusive education through traditional arts

November 1, 2019.

Photo: UNDP Azerbaijan/ Reza Deghati

Baku, Icherisheher, 1 November, 2019 – The European Union (EU), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Administration of the Icherisheher State Historical-Architectural Reserve under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan organized a press day today at the Inclusive Vocational Arts and Crafts Training Centre in Baku’s historic Old City. The press day marks the launch of the first inclusive vocational education programme in arts and creative cultural expression as part of a joint project funded by the European Union and implemented by the UNDP together with the Administration of the Icherisheher. Aimed at promoting inclusive education for people with and without disabilities, the project helps young students learn together and experience life through traditional arts.

Signed in 2018 between the EU, the UNDP and the Government of Azerbaijan, the project has recently established a brand new Inclusive Vocational Arts and Crafts Training Centre to foster greater access to inclusive learning platforms for children and youth with disabilities tailored to their specific developmental needs and challenges. The centre operates as an adjacent facility under the Icherisheher Centre for Traditional Art (ICTA). Earlier in September the first cohort of students started their first academic year in the inclusivity workshop of the Training Centre in the Icherisheher.

Welcoming this first group of students at the press day, Head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan Ambassador Kestutis Jankauskas said: "Equal treatment, equal opportunity, and non-discrimination provide for inclusive opportunities for women and men with disabilities in mainstream society. Barriers and prejudices are the most disabling for both individuals and society, particularly when these barriers impede access to skill development and decent work. Development and implementation of open, flexible and complementary systems of general, technical and vocational education and training, including continuing employment information is important. Every effort should be made to educate the general public, employers and workers on the need to provide persons with disabilities with guidance and training to enable them to find suitable employment. Skills development is central in enabling people with disabilities to take part in the labour force."

Emphasising the importance of inclusive practices, UNDP Resident Representative Mr. Alessandro Fracassetti said at the press day: “Inclusivity brings a lot of transformative changes into the lives of people with disabilities, helping them boost their self-worth and improve self-esteem and giving them access to a better quality of life. In an inclusive society, people with varying abilities can enjoy the many benefits of a supportive environment, which, among other things, reduces barriers to effective communication, increases participation in community life and improves independent living skills.”

Today, the new Inclusive Vocational Arts and Crafts Training Centre in the Icherisheher is home to 65 enthusiasts, including 25 students with disabilities and 40 typical students enrolled altogether in six classes offered at the Centre. The Centre has currently two running classes on pottery and decorative solutions, each offering a six-month to one-year academic programmes. There are also two additional groups that specialise on woodcrafts, also enrolled in six-month and one-year classes, respectively. A separate class is offered on beads and polymer clay crafts and another one on batik and stained glass crafts. Classes last for two hours once a week in mixed groups consisting of 4-5 students with disabilities and 6-7 students without disabilities.

The classes are taught by professional arts and crafts experts and producers. Teaching assistants who specialise in correctional education are assigned to each group to support instructors during the educational process. Recruited as interns from among the students of the Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University, these teaching assistants provide individual support to students with disabilities when necessary and enhance communication and interaction of students with disabilities with their peers without disabilities. In addition to that, a group of rehabilitation workers, including psychologists, social workers, speech therapists and sign language translators are available at all times to provide psychosocial counseling and other support services to students with different abilities, pursuant to the individual development plans created for each student with disabilities. Most importantly, to help parents of children and youth with varying abilities adjust to a wide variety of emotional and psychological challenges as well as to support them in understanding special needs of their children better, special services providers are available to answer the questions and assist when necessary. 

As of September 2019, students have also participated at the interactive training on inclusive education aimed to create an inclusive environment among group members, enhance tolerance and empathy between peers. 

Media contact :

For media inquiries, please contact Arzu Jafarli, Communications and External Relations Analyst for UNDP in Azerbaijan at [email protected] and Gulnara Bayramova, Press and Information Officer at the Delegation of the European Union to Azerbaijan at [email protected]   

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What are the returns to education in Azerbaijan?

Vicente garcia-moreno, harry a. patrinos.

In recent years, Azerbaijan has achieved high growth rates, sustained poverty reduction, and a reduction in debt levels. At the same time, the country’s primary and secondary education system has expanded significantly, ensuring increased access to learning for children and young people.

Despite this important progress, however, Azerbaijan’s human capital productivity remains below potential. According to the  Human Capital Index , a child born in Azerbaijan today will be 60 percent as productive when she grows up as she could be if she enjoyed complete education and full health. Many people are thus missing out on potentially high returns to human capital.

But just how rewarding are the investments in human capital? We examined the private and social returns to education,  using data  from Azerbaijan’s 2015 nationally representative  Monitoring Survey for Social Welfare , which  surveyed nearly 38,700 individuals.

We found that, for the working population, the level of education is high – at 13 years of schooling, on average. Among those surveyed, 69 percent had completed high school, while 20 percent had completed higher education. Despite progress improving rates of high school graduation, Azerbaijan has yet to see similar success in university graduation rates.

The private return to investment in education is 6.1 percent, which is generally positive, but still below the  global average  of 8-10 percent. Meanwhile, t he overall private rate of return to tertiary education (relative to secondary) is 9 percent.

We see noteworthy differences between the returns to women and men. For women, average  returns to schooling (primary and secondary education)  are higher  by two percentage points , at 8.3 percent, compared to 6.2 percent for men. Private returns to tertiary education are also higher for women, at 11 percent, compared to 9 percent for men.

Azerbaijan’s labor force has 21 years of experience, on average, which suggests a middle-aged workforce. The employment rate is higher among men than women, despite the fact that female workers have half a year more schooling than men, and two more years of experience. While the earnings advantage of secondary education is minimal, those with higher education earn 1.4 times more than those with primary education.

Returns to schooling are highest in the manufacturing sector, at 8 percent; followed by services at 5 percent; and agriculture and other sectors at 3 percent. Overall, the returns to education in Azerbaijan are low, and have not changed much in the last 20 years.

In Azerbaijan, public funding of education is relatively low. In 2018, overall public education spending accounted for just 3 percent of GDP. And, of the total education budget, only 10 percent went towards tertiary education.

Higher education institutions in Azerbaijan receive per capita student payments, and some universities get  infrastructure costs . The nominal cost for tertiary education is calculated based on the fact that 64 percent of students pay tuition, at 1,800  manat  (about $1,000), while the remaining 36 percent are covered by a public subsidy, or 1,700  manat .

Attending tertiary education in a public institution here leads to two different returns to investment in education estimates, depending on whether the student paid tuition or not. For those students who pay tuition, the rate of return to investment in education is almost 50 percent lower than for those students who receive a scholarship.

Tertiary education in Azerbaijan is currently characterized by low levels of enrollment, and a high degree of cost recovery. Student admission quotas are tightly controlled by the government, resulting in limited access to tertiary education for many young people. Indeed, the quota-to-applicant ratio has been declining since the mid-1990s. As a consequence,  a smaller share of today’s young generation  has graduated from universities and technical vocational colleges compared to their parents’ generation.

The cost of private tutoring, which is essential for preparing students for university entrance examinations, is high and prevents students from poorer families from being among the highest scoring students who qualify for the merit-based tuition-free places. Tuition fees for public universities are also prohibitively high – as such, poor students who did not qualify for funding and who have lower grades are unable to afford tuition.

In terms of years of schooling and levels of education completed, Azerbaijan is a highly educated country. However, the quality of education and student learning outcomes are underperforming. This suggests the need to look more closely at the financing of higher education, in particular.

Learn More:  Returns to Education in Azerbaijan: Some New Estimates  (Working Paper, 2020)

What else can Azerbaijan do to improve returns to education? Please share your thoughts and comments below.

Deputy Director of Pensions and Social Security at the Ministry of Finance in Mexico

Senior Adviser, Education

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Report - Caspian Studies Program

Current Trends in Education in Azerbaijan A discussion with Professor Hamlet Isaxanli April 25, 2001 Caspian Studies Program, Harvard University

Summary by Emily Van Buskirk

On April 25, 2001, Professor Hamlet Isaxanli spoke about current trends in Azerbaijani education in a Caspian Studies Program seminar at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Professor Isaxanli is president and founder of Khazar University in Baku, Azerbaijan. Established in 1991, Khazar is one of the first private universities in the former Soviet Union, and the first in Azerbaijan. Khazar University ( www.khazar.org ) is dedicated to reinforcing the idea of an open, pluralistic, democratic, market-oriented form of social organization.

Professor Isaxanli, a mathematician by training, began with a lesson in Azerbaijani history. Before the division of Azerbaijan between the Russian and Iranian empires that occurred in 1828, he explained, there was basically one Azerbaijan, and its educational system was like that in much of the Middle East— most schools were religious. The main languages of instruction were Persian and Arabic. During the late Middle Ages Azerbaijani Turkic was introduced in some schools. Starting in the 14th century Azerbaijanis began composing poetry in Azerbaijani, which vied with Farsi for dominance in Azerbaijani culture, progressively achieving the leading role. Around that time in Maragha, near Tabriz, a university, research and training center with an observatory existed that distinguished itself in non-Euclidian geometry, trigonometry, astronomy, physics, and ethics. However, a general decline in scientific research and education began in the Muslim world during the 14th century, just as religion became more central in school curricula. The number of high quality schools declined, and higher learning institutions continued to exist only in important urban centers of the Muslim East. Later, in the period of the Azerbaijani khanates (principalities) in the 18th and first decade of the 19th centuries the role of the Azerbaijani language became more visible in schools.

After the Turkmanchay treaty of 1828 between Russia and Iran, the northern section of Azerbaijan became part of Russia, and South Azerbaijan remained with Iran. Even now, said Isaxanli, the Azerbaijani people are divided between two countries, the Republic of Azerbaijan (or "North Azerbaijan") with a population of nearly 8 million, where speakers of Azerbaijani form about 7 million, and Iran, where there are 20-30 million ethnic Azerbaijanis (population estimates differ from source to source). The education systems in these two countries diverge. Isaxanli decided to focus on educational development and trends in northern Azerbaijan, where the modern Republic of Azerbaijan is located today.

From 1828 to 1918, Russian policy sought first to increase the use of Azerbaijani to replace Persian and then to make Russian the primary language of instruction. Academic programs and curricula were developed in a cooperative effort between Azerbaijani intellectuals and Russian educators. The following types of schools arose:

• Religious, but with introductory courses in secular subjects; Secular, but with compulsory religious subjects; Russian-Tatar schools, secular and bilingual; these schools contributed to the rise of modern Azerbaijani intelligentsia.For higher education, students would mainly go to Russia and Europe.

Azerbaijan's two year independence period (1918-1920) before becoming part of the Soviet Union was not long enough for it to develop a national system of education, but three things were established: 1) a strong presence of the Azerbaijani language; 2) minority rights education policy; and 3) Azerbaijan State University (founded in1920). About one hundred students were sent to Europe for higher education.

The Soviet period brought rapid advances in literacy, which rose to 100% within 10-15 years. Under the Soviet Union, there were two types of higher-learning institutions: 1) universities offering 5-year programs terminating in something like an M.A. or M.S.--each Soviet Republic had at least one University, comparable to an American college of arts and sciences (in many cases with law); 2) specialized higher learning institutions (such as institutes of fine arts, economics, civil or petro-chemical engineering, pedagogy, etc.); some of these offered 4 or 5-year programs leading to something like a B.A. or B.S. After graduating from these universities and institutes, scholars could continue with a 3-year graduate program ("aspirantura"), leading to the Candidate of Science degree, akin to the American Ph.D.

One of the most important reforms of the Soviet period was the progressive language policy: any student could get educated from start to finish in her own language. A student with native Azerbaijani language in Georgia could attend school in Azerbaijani, study Russian as a second language, French as a foreign language, and have classes in Georgian, said Isaxanli from personal experience (being born in Georgia). The language of instruction in higher learning institutions in Azerbaijan was mostly Azerbaijani, with Russian in second place. For every 100 students majoring in Mathematics and studying in Azerbaijani, there would be a group of 25 or 50 math students studying in Russian. In the 5 Central Asian republics, in comparison, the language of instruction at higher education was primarily Russian.

The learning was otherwise uniform across the Soviet Union: there was one textbook in each subject for the entire country, and one curriculum for each course of study (physics, calculus, etc.). The positive aspect of this system was that the textbooks were of high quality and often updated. On the negative side, it was difficult to inspire initiative and impossible to make changes. According to Isaxanli, national identity was not reflected sufficiently in the curriculum. In the 1970s and 80s especially, corruption and bribery penetrated educational activities, for example entrance examinations.

Post-Soviet Azerbaijan's education system has experienced changes, particularly in higher learning. There are now 28 state universities (with Soviet-like structures) and 17 private universities. State universities get about half their money from the state budget, and the other half from tuition. Private universities do not get any public funding. Isaxanli named several features of the current Azerbaijani situation that have a negative effect on education:

• An economy in transition, plagued by corruption and bribery; A poor tax system, at least as concerns the educational system; Poor libraries, weak access to knowledge and its development;On the other hand, the globalization phenomenon has had a positive impact on education.

Finally, Professor Isaxanli discussed Khazar University and its conception. When Professor Isaxanli taught as a visiting professor in Western Europe and the United States, he wrote an article comparing different systems of education. At that time, it occurred to him that reform in Azerbaijan's system was necessary, and could be done in two ways: 1) by enacting step by step reform of the entire higher education system or 2) by starting from ground zero, establishing a small university with new models, as a kind of a synthesis between an international perspective and national values. Government officials liked the idea of starting a new university, and although the government could not offer money, it did give Professor Isaxanli permission to try.

Professor Isaxanli hired out of his own pocket 6-7 professors and opened the doors of Khazar (which means Caspian) to 20 students. He decided to establish English as the principal language of instruction so that his students could participate in exchanges, benefit from visiting professors, and use Western textbooks. He was searching for the appropriate model of education, and decided that the school should use a credit system (in comparison, in the Soviet system, a student that failed one class had to repeat the whole year). Khazar gets much of its funding from international foundations, including USIA. It has partnerships with many universities, in Europe and the U.S., including UCLA.

Discussion Q. What are the basic requirements at Khazar University? A: Students must take advanced English, Azerbaijani studies, and then they must fulfill distribution requirements in the social sciences, humanities, and sciences. It is similar to the American system, according to Isaxanli.

Q. How many students are there? How are they funded? A. There are now about 1000 students at the university, 25% of who are graduate students (some from abroad). The school has need-based and merit-based scholarships. About 15% of students have financial aid.

Q. Who are the teachers? A. Many are some of Azerbaijan's well-known professors (who teach at more than one University at once). Khazar also has many visiting professors teaching social sciences, which is advantageous compared to the state schools, where social scientists are mostly former Marxist-Leninists.

Q. What is the admissions process? A. Even private universities cannot choose their own students. We have to sign up for central state exam system and request a certain number of students (and then sometimes bargain with the government). The system breeds corruption, as some private universities pay for students.

Q. What do Khazar graduates go on to do? A. Most are employed by multi-national companies; some are employed by the state. Some continue their education in the U.S. or Europe. The most popular degree at Khazar is the M.B.A. Q. Are there some subjects that it makes more sense to teach in Azerbaijani than in English, for example ones that depend on local context? A. Yes. For example, in the legal field, international law, human rights and humanitarian law are taught in English. Criminal law and other kinds of law that are more country-specific are taught in Azerbaijani.

Q. Does Azerbaijan have a system of accreditation? A. Yes, but it is not well established, not independent. Universities can be accredited by the Ministry of Education or Council of Ministers but this process is not always standard. It's very important, according to Isaxanli, to have good partners in Europe, and the U.S.

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The Education Development Fund was established by Decree No. 1399 of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated July 14, 2021.

The Education Development Fund is a public legal entity that finances programs and projects aimed at the development of the education system and supports adaptation to the material and technical base of state educational institutions to modern requirements in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The Fund is guided in its activities by the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Charter of the Fund, other decrees and orders of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, other resolutions and orders of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan, normative legal acts of the Ministry, orders of the Minister of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan. While performing its duties and exercising its rights, the Fund interacts with state and local self-government bodies, international and non-governmental organizations, and other legal and private individuals.

According to the Charter approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Fund is engaged in activities of national and public importance.

The capital of the Fund is formed by deductions from extra-budgetary funds of educational institutions under the Ministry (except vocational education institutions), the income obtained from the provision of paid educational services and the activities of the Fund, donations, grants, investments, and other sources not prohibited by law.

The current management of the activities of the Fund is carried out by the Management Board consisting of the chairman, his deputy, and one other member.

Elnur Ramiz oghlu Nasibov is acting as the Chairman of the Board of Education Development Fund by order of the Minister of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan Emin Amrullayev.

The powers of the founder of The fund are carried out by the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

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Azərbaycan Xalq Cümhuriyyəti hökumətinin 1918-ci il 28 may tarixli qərarı ilə maarif və təhsil üzrə ilk nazirlik-Xalq Maarifi Nazirliyi yaradılıb. Nazirlər Şurasının 30 iyun 1918-ci il tarixli qərarı ilə Xalq Maarifi Nazirliyinin üç şöbədən (ümumi orta təhsil, ali və orta ixtisas təhsili, peşə məktəbləri) ibarət strukturu təsdiq olunub.

Azərbaycan SSR Xalq Komissarları Sovetinin 28 aprel 1920-ci il tarixli qərarı ilə Xalq Maarifi Nazirliyinin adı dəyişdirilərək Xalq Maarifi Komissarlığı adı ilə yenidən təşkil edilib və ölkədəki bütün təhsil müəssisələri bu qurumun tabeliyinə verilib.

Welcome to your home for your home for ministry services, resources and information.

Our catalogue brings together all key websites, services, and resources about the ministry activities. Here you can explore the ministry easily and navigate to the content you need.

Today, our catalogue contains:

General Education

Extracurricular Education

Vocational Education

Secondary special education

Higher education

Special Education

Assessments and studies

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Education is the future of the nation! HEYDAR ALIYEV

“Development of community based pre-school education" project

“steam” project, “the digital skills” project, "setting up vocationally oriented classes” project, “schoolchild’s friend” project, "virtual school" project, “healthy education – healthy nation” project, “sabah groups” project, “state program on increasing the international competitiveness of the higher education system in the republic of azerbaijan for 2019-2023", “study in azerbaijan” project, “one” student-voluntary program, "teach for azerbaijan" project, more in this section:.

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What's the best state for you », russian troops leave karabakh, now back under azerbaijan's control.

Russian Troops Leave Karabakh, Now Back Under Azerbaijan's Control

Russian service members attend a base closing ceremony in the course of peacekeeping troops' withdrawal from the territory of Karabakh region and areas nearby, in Khojaly, Azerbaijan May 15, 2024. REUTERS/Aziz Karimov

(This May 15 story has been corrected to say 'recaptured' instead of 'captured' in paragraph 1)

By Nailia Bagirova

KHOJALY, Azerbaijan (Reuters) - Russia shut down a military base in Azerbaijan on Wednesday where nearly 2,000 of its troops had been deployed, after Azeri forces recaptured the area last year despite a two-year Russian mission to prevent war between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

A total of 1,960 Russian peacekeepers had been housed in 10 barracks at the base in Khojaly, a town in the Karabakh region. Despite the deployment, Azerbaijan recaptured Karabakh in a lightning offensive last September, prompting an exodus of 100,000 ethnic Armenians who had enjoyed de facto independence since breaking away in the 1990s in the first of two wars between the South Caucasus neighbours.

"The presence of Russian peacekeepers made it possible to establish peace on Azerbaijani soil," Russian Colonel General Yevgeny Nikiforov said at the departure ceremony.

Azerbaijan's chief of the general staff, Colonel General Kerim Valiyev, said Russia had made "every effort to establish peace in the Karabakh economic region" and bring decades of conflict to an end.

Armenia has a very different take on Russia's role. It has accused Moscow of failing it by doing nothing to prevent Azerbaijan from taking Karabakh by force and conducting what it calls ethnic cleansing, something Azerbaijan denies.

Armenia has suspended its participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, a defence grouping of former Soviet states that is dominated by Russia.

Armenia was not represented at Wednesday's ceremony, where folk dances and patriotic songs were performed and Russian troops departed to the strains of a military band.

Nikiforov said the Russian force could take credit for providing humanitarian assistance, clearing more than 30,000 explosive devices, returning more than 110 prisoners of war and arranging the return of more than 1,900 fallen soldiers to the respective sides.

"The Russian military completed the task assigned to them," he said.

(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova, Writing by Mark Trevelyan,; Editing by Ros Russell)

Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters .

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Virginia Education, School Reports, Teachers Monthly School Reports, Nov. 1865–Apr. 1869, Part 4

About the project.

The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, often referred to as the Freedmen’s Bureau, was established on March 3, 1865. The duties of the Freedmen’s Bureau included supervision of all affairs relating to refugees, freedmen, and the custody of abandoned lands and property. These documents come from the Records of the Superintendent of Education for Virginia, Series 4: School Reports. 

Additional resources are available on the Freedmen's Bureau Instructions Page . Please help us transcribe these records to learn more about the lives of formerly enslaved men and women in Virginia during the Reconstruction Era.

Monthly school reports of teachers, November 1865 and January 1866–June 1871, are arranged chronologically and were prepared on forms devised in the Office of the Superintendent of Education. The forms contain statistical data furnished by individual teachers concerning the number of pupils enrolled; attendance; subjects taught in day, night, and Sabbath schools; and the amount of tuition paid by students. Some forms also contain more lengthy narrative remarks by teachers. Some of the reports apparently pertain to non–Bureau schools. Filmed directly after the school reports is a bound register containing the names of teachers to whom forms and envelopes were sent, May 1869–June 1870; the names are arranged alphabetically by name of county.

About Project Difficulty

Level 1 - beginner.

Content: all typed Language: English Format: letters, diaries, flyers, pamphlets, and one-page documents Subject Area Expertise/Special Skills: none required

Content: mostly typed, handwritten in print, or otherwise very clearly written/readable Language: English Format: memorabilia, advertisements, image captions, telegrams, diaries, letters, notes Subject Area Expertise/Special Skills: none required

Level 3 - INTERMEDIATE

Content: typed and handwritten materials in cursive or print Language: English Format: newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, letters/diaries/notes that may include annotations or margin notes Subject Area Expertise/Special Skills: experience reading cursive writing may be useful

Content: handwritten materials, primarily in cursive or somewhat difficult to read (predominantly from the 19th and 20th centuries) , audio recordings that are relatively easy to hear/decipher, and scientific materials Language: English and/or other languages that use Roman script but may require the use of diacritics (French, Spanish, German, Italian, etc.) Format: audio recordings, letters, diaries, notes and other written materials, projects with templated fields and special instructions Subject Area Expertise/Special Skills: some knowledge of non-English Roman-character/script languages and diacritics may be useful, as well as experience reading cursive handwriting. A general knowledge or familiarity with scientific terminology.

Level 5 - ADVANCED

Content: handwritten materials in cursive (from the 19th century or earlier) or in a non-Roman script language, audio recordings that are difficult to hear or are not in English, specialty materials/projects such as numismatics projects and the Project Phaedra notebooks Language: foreign languages that use non-Roman characters (Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Greek/Cyrillic, Native American and Indigenous languages, etc.) and English Format: audio recordings, columned data/tables, manuscripts, letters, diaries, notes, currency sheets, coins Subject Area Expertise/Special Skills: knowledge of a specific language and access to a keyboard with the characters in that language may be required for certain projects. Experience reading cursive handwriting and familiarity with 19th century (or prior) handwriting and conventions/abbreviations may be useful, as well as knowledge of scientific terminology, astrophysics data, or linguistics.

Contributing members

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Google's just demoed its multimodal Gemini Live feature, and I'm worried for Rabbit and Humane

At its much-anticipated annual I/O event , Google this week announced some exciting functionality to its Gemini AI model, particularly its multi-modal capabilities, in a pre-recorded video demo. 

Although it sounds a lot like the "Live" feature on Instagram or TikTok, Live for Gemini refers to the ability for you to "show" Gemini your view via your camera, and have a two-way conversation with the AI in real time. Think of it as video-calling with a friend who knows everything about everything.  

Also: I demoed Google's Project Astra and it felt like the future of generative AI (until it didn't)

This year has seen this kind of AI technology appear in a host of other devices like the  Rabbit R1  and the  Humane AI pin , two non-smartphone devices that came out this spring to a flurry of hopeful curiosity, but ultimately didn't move the needle away from the supremacy of the smartphone. 

Now that these devices have had their moments in the sun, Google's Gemini AI has taken the stage with its snappy, conversational multi-modal AI and brought the focus squarely back to the smartphone. 

Google teased this functionality the day before I/O in a tweet that showed off Gemini correctly identifying the stage at I/O, then giving additional context to the event and asking follow-up questions of the user. 

One more day until #GoogleIO ! We’re feeling 🤩. See you tomorrow for the latest news about AI, Search and more. pic.twitter.com/QiS1G8GBf9 — Google (@Google) May 13, 2024

In the demo video at I/O, the user turns on their smartphone's camera and pans around the room, asking Gemini to identify its surroundings and provide context on what it sees. Most impressive was not simply the responses Gemini gave, but how quickly the responses were generated, which yielded that natural, conversational interaction Google has been trying to convey.   

Also:   3 new Gemini Advanced features unveiled at Google I/O 2024

The goals behind Google's so-called Project Astra are centered around bringing this cutting-edge AI technology down to the scale of the smartphone; that's in part why, Google says, it created Gemini with multi-modal capabilities from the beginning. But getting the AI to respond and ask follow-up questions in real-time has apparently been the biggest challenge. 

During its  R1 launch demo  in April, Rabbit showed off similar multimodal AI technology that many lauded as an exciting feature. Google's teaser video proves the company has been hard at work in developing similar functionality for Gemini that, from the looks of it, might even be better.

The Rabbit R1 also has a multimodal AI feature, with a built-in camera in the squarish form factor.

Google isn't alone with multi-modal AI breakthroughs. Just a day earlier, OpenAI showed off its own updates during its OpenAI Spring Update livestream, including GPT-4o , its newest AI model that now powers ChatGPT to "see, hear, and speak." During the demo, presenters showed the AI various objects and scenarios via their smartphones' cameras, including a math problem written by hand, and the presenter's facial expressions, with the AI correctly identifying these things through a similar conversational back-and-forth with its users.

Also:  Google's new 'Ask Photos' AI solves a problem I have every day

When Google updates  Gemini on mobile  later this year with this feature, the company's technology could jump to the front of the pack in the AI assistant race, particularly with Gemini's exceedingly natural-sounding cadence and follow-up questions. However, the exact breadth of capabilities is yet to be fully seen; this development positions Gemini as perhaps the most well-integrated multi-modal AI assistant. 

Folks who attended Google's I/O event in person had a chance to demo Gemini's multi-modal AI for mobile in a controlled "sandbox" environment at the event, but we can expect more hands-on experiences later this year.

Artificial Intelligence

What is gemini live how google's real-time chatbot competes with gpt-4o, meet gemini education: three ways google is equipping students and educators with ai, google i/o 2024: 5 gemini features that would pull me away from copilot.

Police investigate after gun fired during Kansas City graduation ceremony

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Police continue to investigate after a gun was fired during a graduation ceremony at a Kansas City high school over the weekend.

The Kansas City, Mo., Police Department says that around 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 18, emergency crews were called to the De La Salle Education Center at 3737 Troost Ave. with reports of a shooting.

When first responders arrived, they said they found an altercation had broken out between two parties as graduation ceremonies continued. At least one individual fired a gun during the event.

KCPD noted that no injuries were reported. No further information has been released.

Copyright 2024 KCTV. All rights reserved.

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2024 Presidential Arts and Humanities Fellows selected to advance research, creative projects

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — A signature Indiana University program that amplifies and accelerates the work of outstanding arts and humanities faculty recently selected its latest cohort. The Presidential Arts and Humanities Fellowship is an annual program that supports the work of IU faculty who are improving society and revitalizing communities through their research and creative activity, and poised to become national and international leaders in their fields.

Supported by the IU Office of the President and IU Research, and administered by the university’s assistant vice president for research, the fellowship awards $50,000 of flexible funding to each recipient to support a variety of needs as they pursue innovative research and creative projects. President Pamela Whitten started the program in 2022.

Along with funding, recipients gain access to professional development programming and advanced training in the areas of grant writing, scholarly communication with the public, media training and digital scholarship, among other specialized trainings.

The goal of the IU Presidential Arts and Humanities Fellowship program is to amplify and promote the rich and diverse opportunities within the arts and humanities at Indiana University and to ensure the recipients have continued success as they make impactful changes in their fields and in local, national and international communities.

“Congratulations to the 2024 Presidential Arts and Humanities Fellows,” Whitten said. “The recipients of this fellowship exemplify the standard that is set by our faculty at Indiana University, which has long been a leader in the arts and humanities. This fellowship represents the university’s steadfast commitment to supporting the pursuit of transformative research and creativity across our campuses, which helps us better understand the world and revitalizes communities.”

The 2024 IU Presidential Arts and Humanities Fellows are:

Allison Baker

Allison Baker is an associate professor of fine arts in the Herron School of Art and Design on IIU’s Indianapolis campus. She will construct a body of work and monumental public sculptures that memorialize the complexities of late-stage capitalism, illuminating the aspirations and struggles of the American working class and working poor.

Baker seeks to build monuments that challenge dominant narratives, humanize the ripple effects of poverty and create work that the American working class and working poor can see as a reflection of their own experiences in galleries and museums, which are spaces where they are seldom represented.

Emily Beckman

Emily Beckman is an associate professor and director of the Medical Humanities and Health Studies Program in the School of Liberal Arts on the Indianapolis campus. Beckman is co-founder of Build Community Give Care, a nonprofit organization that provides compassionate end-of-life care in Africa.

She will use the funding to support research addressing the need for palliative care education in Uganda. Outcomes will include a better understanding of the pathways available for palliative care education and access in Uganda, solutions for better retention in these educational programs and the development of medical humanities curricula at IU.

Catherine Bowman

Catherine Bowman , professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences at IU Bloomington, is an award-winning poet, author of several collections of poetry and the editor of “Word of Mouth: Poems Featured on NPR’s ‘All Things Considered.’”

Bowman will use the fellowship funding for travel and archival research to make significant progress on her sixth poetry collection, tentatively titled “Volver, Volver: An Underworld Intergenre Pilgrimage.” The collection will imagine and recount various underworld encounters with several generations of women.

Andrew Goldman

Andrew Goldman is an assistant professor of music in music theory at the Jacobs School of Music and assistant professor of cognitive science in the College of Arts and Sciences. He directs the IU Music and Mind Lab , an interdisciplinary research group that investigates music perception and cognition and the role of music in the human condition.

Goldman will use the fellowship funding to explore the critical challenges and contributions of incorporating cognitive science into music studies. He will research how music cognition researchers’ historical and cultural situations have influenced their scientific work and the nature of their findings.

Raiford Guins

Raiford Guins is a professor and the director of Cinema and Media Studies at The Media School in Bloomington. He is also an adjunct professor of informatics. He plans to use the funds to support research travel that will aid in the development of his book, tentatively titled “Museum Games.”

The book will explore the emerging area of games and gaming culture in museums, libraries and archives worldwide. For example, the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, recently completed a $70 million expansion, while The Nintendo Museum plans its long-anticipated opening in Kyoto, Japan, in 2024. Guins will detail the relatively new phenomenon of gaming museums and preservation from an academic perspective.

Lisa Lenoir

Lisa Lenoir is an assistant professor who teaches courses in The Media School’s new Fashion Media Program in Bloomington. Her research examines contemporary cultural phenomena in media discourses in journalism studies, activism and identity, and consumer culture.

Lenoir will use the funds to research the life and work of Chicago Defender journalist Mattie Smith Colin, a fashion and food editor who covered the return of Emmett Till’s body from Mississippi to Chicago in 1955. Lenoir will collect oral histories from people who knew Colin and review archival materials, compiling her findings into a digital bibliography.

Anja Matwijkiw

Anja Matwijkiw is a professor of philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at IU Northwest and affiliated faculty in the Institute for European Studies at IU Bloomington. She will use the funds to explore stakeholder philosophy and international law as it pertains to the United Nations rule of law.

Linda Pisano

Linda Pisano is chair and professor in the Department of Theatre, Drama and Contemporary Dance in the College of Arts and Sciences at IU Bloomington. Her fellowship is sponsored by the Big Ten Academic Alliance and the Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs.

Pisano will use the fellowship funding to research methods and mechanisms in cultivating new audiences, patrons and donors of the arts and humanities on university campuses during increasingly difficult times. Her research will include investigating interest in community outreach, education, socio-political advocacy and identity, among other areas. Pisano hopes to ensure that universities are communicating the value of arts and humanities as fundamental to their institutional identity and the public spaces they occupy.

Spencer Steenblik

Spencer Steenblik is an assistant professor of comprehensive design at the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design in Bloomington. He will use the funds to develop several projects, including producing and testing an innovative structural joint and pursuing a patent. The main goals are to develop full-scale experimental structures and installations that test new materials, technologies and design approaches and to highlight the need for more opportunities for young practitioners to engage in similar types of hands-on innovation.

The previous cohort of fellows made advancements across a multitude of disciplines with the funding and resources provided by the IU Presidential Arts and Humanities Fellowship, including composing a chamber music and AI opera that will premiere next year and erecting a floating monument that spotlights underrepresented communities in Chicago.

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