President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree on introducing a new funding mechanism for state general education institutions.
According to the Operative Information Center-OMM, the decree provides for the gradual introduction, starting from the 2026–2027 academic year, of financing for state general education institutions from the state budget based on a per-student funding principle.
In addition, for state general education institutions to be funded on a per-student basis, adjustment coefficients will be applied to the annual education costs allocated per student according to the types of general education institutions and the respective levels of general education.
The decree instructs the Cabinet of Ministers to approve, within one month, the amounts of annual education costs per student by type of general education institution, as well as the procedures for financing from the state budget institutions funded on a per-student basis and applying adjustment coefficients to annual education costs per student at different levels of general education. The Cabinet of Ministers must then inform the President of Azerbaijan.
The Ministry of Science and Education is required to determine, in coordination with the Ministry of Finance, the list of state general education institutions to be funded from the state budget on a per-student basis and the number of students enrolled at those institutions for each subsequent calendar year.
The document says the decree was signed in connection with the implementation of the “Socio-economic Development Strategy of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2022–2026.” Per-student financing generally links budget allocations to enrollment, while the adjustment coefficients allow funding to reflect differences among education levels and types of schools.
