Baku, August 26 (AZERTAC). President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and his wife, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva have attended the opening of secondary school No. 23 in the Nasimi District of Baku after major overhaul.

The Azerbaijani state takes care of the development of education and science at the highest level. Progress in these fields, for its part, contributes to the rapid development of our country. One of the priorities of the policy pursued by the Azerbaijani state is the development of human capital. Investment in education is of great importance from this point of view.

The Heydar Aliyev Foundation has exceptional services in the fact that education has entered a new stage of development, strengthened its material and technical infrastructure. The Foundation’s “New school for a renewing Azerbaijan,” “Support for Education”, “Development of Orphanages and Boarding Schools” and other projects have played an important part in the development of this sphere. One of the factors stipulating the success of these programs and projects is that President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva pays constant attention to these issues. Hundreds of schools and additional buildings have been built and thousands of schools reconstructed in the country in recent years.

Major overhaul of the building of secondary school No. 23 once more proves that thanks to the attention of President Ilham Aliyev, education reforms are well under way. In accordance with the State Program on the socioeconomic development of Baku and its suburbs, secondary schools have been overhauled and repaired in the capital in recent years. It has contributed to the strengthening of material and technical infrastructure of education and the upgrade of its level.

Secondary school No. 23 has always been remarkable for its highly professional teaching staff and graduates who achieved great successes. This has always been among the most advanced in educational process, played an important role in realizing creative ideas and initiatives. The event dealing with the elimination of illiteracy in the world and held under the slogan “Opening books means opening doors” by the World Education Union and the Education Ministry of Azerbaijan took place at school No. 23. The school has functioned since 1899. In that year, 42 boys and 8 girls studied in the primary school.

The head of state and his wife cut the ribbon to officially open the facility.

Minister of Education Mikayil Jabbarov informed President Ilham Aliyev about the major overhaul in the school.

Reconstruction of this school began in early 2012 under an order of the head of state. The old building was knocked down and replaced with a six-storey state-of-the-art building, which is eye-catching in terms of architecture.

A bust of great leader Heydar Aliyev and the flag of Azerbaijan were installed in the lobby. Photo stands reflecting the care of national leader and President Ilham Aliyev to education were set up here.

The school museum of Heydar Aliyev is remarkable for the richness of exhibits. It has interesting photographs, documents and books reflecting various periods of life and political career of the great leader. Pre-school preparatory courses are scheduled to function in the school too. The school is currently designed to accommodate 2,163 schoolchildren. Before reconstruction, it had only 500 seats. It has 80 classrooms and 11 departments. Teaching at this school is conducted in English. Two foreign languages are taught here. Students in the Russian section will study German, while children in the Azerbaijani section will be taught Russian language. The school has 64 classes.

The President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, who makes an important contribution to the development of Azerbaijan`s education system, has always kept reconstruction of this school in the spotlight. The First Lady reviewed reconstruction progress here on 11 June of last year and gave her recommendations and suggestions. The school has all the conditions for organizing a teaching process at the high level. The school has been fitted with the necessary equipment and teaching aids. The ventilation and lighting systems are installed in the school. The school museum has also been created. It provides interesting information about directors of the school, its graduates and successes achieved by the educational institution.

School No. 23 has always been noted for its graduates. Among the school graduates is goodwill ambassador of UNESCO and ISESCO, MP, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva who makes a considerable contribution to the realization of the educational concept. Mehriban Aliyeva, who finished the school in 1982 with a gold medal, made the teaching staff happy in 2002 by helping with the reconstruction of the school in line with modern standards. In 2003-2004, the school was named the best educational institution in the city of Baku for its high performance in the teaching and educational process. For a long time, the school bore the name of national hero Tahir Hasanov who fell for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country.

All classrooms and departments meet modern standards. There will be one shift in the Azerbaijani and Russian sections. The area of the school was increased from 7,000 to 22,000 square meters. Drawing, music and sculpture rooms were created at the school at the initiative of Mehriban Aliyeva in order to spot creative potential of the schoolchildren. A special room for basic military training here meets high standards. A photo stand dedicated to national heroes is also installed.

The school has gyms, a library, language and computer rooms and a medical center. The 314-seat conference hall is well suited for holding various events.

President Ilham Aliyev, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva and members of their family watched an amateur show staged by the pupils.

Then, schoolchildren wished First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva a happy birthday.