Azerbaijani minister claims that first secular school in Azerbaijan was opened in Shushi, but the reality is different

2024-10-02

Azerbaijan's minister of education, Emin Amrullayev, claimed that the country's first secular school was established in Shushi during the 19th century. According to Amrullayev, this school played a pivotal role in shaping Azerbaijan's educational landscape.

He was specifically referencing one of the 20 district schools that were founded across the Caucasus in 1830 as part of an initiative by the Russian government.

There are two misleading claims in the Azerbaijani minister's statement: one overt, the other more covert. The latter attempts to establish a connection between a school opened in the past and the current Azerbaijani education system. However, tuition at that school was predominantly in Russian; in essence, it was opened to spread the Russian language among the local population. Notably, two-thirds of the school's students were Armenians.

The school that opened in Shushi in the 19th century cannot be claimed to have been established in Azerbaijan, as the state of Azerbaijan in the Caucasus was only founded in 1918, in the 20th century. At the time, Shushi was part of the Russian Empire, and prior to that, it was under Persian rule

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