Baku, September 14, AZERTAC

Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) has held a ceremony to mark the beginning of a new academic year.

Participants in the event included SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev, BHOS Rector Elmar Gasimov, BP Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey Gary Jones, and Executive Director of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), United Nations Assistant Secretary-General Nikhil Seth. SOCAR Vice presidents, top managers of national and international companies operating in the country as well as BHOS teachers, professors, students and their parents also participated in the event.

Prior to the event, the participants laid flowers to the bust of the national leader Heydar Aliyev to honor the memory of the founder of the modern Azerbaijani state.

In his opening remarks, rector Elmar Gasimov noted that 26 persons among those admitted to national higher educational institutions in the first specialty group in 2018/2019 academic year and awarded presidential scholarship are BHOS undergraduates. He said that this record made the Higher School the leader among national universities by the number of presidential scholars and reminded that all 13 prospective students who earned 700 points during the entrance exams for the first specialty group chose to study at the Higher School. “BHOS once again achieved a record and took the first place in terms of the highest passing score in the first specialty group, which was gained for admission to new Information Security course,” said the rector . In his words, 92 young engineers who graduated from BHOS this year have been employed by various national and international companies including Petkim, SOCAR Carbamide Pant, Integrated Drilling Trust, SOCAR KBR, Azerkimiya Production Union, BP, Halliburton, Schlumberger and Maire Tecnimont.

Addressing the event, SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev said: “Three days ago I visited Izmir to see commissioning works at STAR Oil Refinery. I met our alumni and inquired about their work. There are about thirty BHOS graduates there. As I was informed, they are equal to, or even better than, the graduates of Boğaziçi University, Istanbul Technical University or Middle East Technical University in terms of professional knowledge and skills. I am confident that the students admitted to BHOS this year will follow their way of success.”

BP Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey Gary Jones said that the Higher School’s graduates are highly skilled engineers with qualifications up to the highest international standards. “As a company that pays special attention to educational and professional development programs, we are satisfied with our cooperation and happy to see BHOS alumni among our new employees,” he said.

UNITAR Executive Director, UN Assistant Secretary-General Nikhil Seth provided an insight into a new project to be implemented by UNITAR jointly with BHOS and aimed at training of foreign students at the Higher School including 15 undergraduates from Nigeria. In his words, UNITAR selected BHOS as their partner for the Higher School’s reputation of training highly qualified professionals of international level.

First-year Chemical Engineering student Vusal Hazratli spoke on behalf of all newly enrolled students, and BHOS graduate Mustafa Askerov who received a Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering made a speech on behalf of the Higher School’s alumni.

Vice President of Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences, Chairman of the Science and Education Committee of Milli Majlis, academician Isa Habibbayli whose nephew was admitted to BHOS as Petroleum Engineering student spoke at the ceremony on behalf of the undergraduates’ parents. In his words, the Baku Higher Oil School differs from other national universities and it is the only higher educational institution in the country, which can honorably represent education of Azerbaijan abroad.

Baku Higher Oil School was set up as a public higher educational institution under the Decree dated 29 November 2011 issued by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. It is established with the purpose to ensure training of highly qualified English speaking engineers in compliance with international standards and based on contemporary curricula and brand-new teaching technologies, to satisfy the growing demands of SOCAR, which expands its activities in Azerbaijan and abroad, and other industry sectors.