Today, many universities teach students 7-8 subjects. However, the main purpose of admission to higher education is not to acquire general knowledge, but to specialize in a specific field. From this perspective, the current workload raises certain questions.
Teaching 7-8 subjects, as in schools, is both tiring for students and sometimes considered inappropriate. In this case, the question arises: why should so many subjects be taught in higher education institutions, and what is the necessity for this?
Science and education expert Səbuhi Abdullayev commented on the topic to AzEdu.az.
The expert stated that in higher education institutions, students engage with non-specialty subjects for at least two years, in addition to their major subjects:
“This issue has been topical for a long time and is frequently raised by both students and teachers of specialty subjects. In higher education institutions, students study non-specialty subjects for a minimum of two years, distinct from their major subjects. This consumes a significant amount of their time, hindering their ability to concentrate and focus on their main specialization.
For example, first-year students engage more with history, Azerbaijani language, and foreign languages – especially English – than with their specialty subjects. As a result, specialty subjects are relegated to the background. This is both tiring and boring for students, and it also affects the decline of their academic performance”.
Səbuhi Abdullayev believes there is a serious need to reduce the number of subjects:
“For instance, it can be quite challenging for a mathematician to take an academic exam in history. In such cases, their overall average performance decreases. This creates negative consequences for the student in terms of both scholarships and overall average. At the same time, it hinders their acquisition of in-depth knowledge in their specialization.
On the other hand, for a student majoring in physics, the Azerbaijani language subject is sometimes taught for more hours than their specialty subjects. However, subjects like Higher Algebra are more important in that field. Yet, more time is allocated to philology-oriented subjects than to Higher Algebra. This is not understandable, and opinions on this matter have been voiced repeatedly. It appears that certain bureaucratic obstacles hinder changes.
I believe that modern students already know well what they want. From this perspective, there is a serious need to both reduce the number of subjects and to focus more on specialty subjects”.
