Independent Azerbaijan University students to protest

As APA reports, several students of the IAU held a press conference regarding this matter today. Fourth-year student of IAU Elnur Mammadov told that the Education Minister has recently told media that the IAU students will not receive diplomas. This caused dissatisfaction among the students.

Mammadov said that under the executive order issued June 17, 2004 by the head of state, only the State Student Admission Commission can admit students to higher schools, and student admission by higher schools was forbidden. The students, who entered the University through passing the test of the university, claim that as they were admitted to the university before the executive order, they should be considered as legal students.

"Students and parents are held responsible for that. Since we illegally studied during these three or four years, we wonder why 18% VAT was taken from the tuition fee we paid," the student said.

Student Aynur Gurbanova, who blames the Education Ministry for that, said the Ministry should name the students illegally admitted to the university. She thinks if the IAU is closed, the Ministry should move legal students to other private Universities and give diplomas to the graduates.

"The Ministry presented 76 of 223 graduates of the University with diplomas last year," she underlined.

Gurbanova also said that male students are conscripted to Army on the basis of the Education Ministry’s orders on the IAU before they complete their studies. The students demand the IAU to clarify the issue within a month.

"If we are not given an explanation within this term, we'll resume protest actions," the students stressed.

The Education Ministry told APA that the issue related to the Independent Azerbaijan University will be considered in the staff meeting soon and decision will be made.