Dear conference participants,

Dear guests,

I welcome you wholeheartedly on the occasion of the opening of the 45th Annual Conference of the International Association for Educational Assessment. I feel privileged that the capital city of our country hosts such a prestigious event.

The educational assessment is the integral part of the education itself. It is, therefore, imperative to use the modern measuring methods and the objective assessment of results while various knowledge and skills are been evaluated. In this context, this conference on ‘Assessment and Decision Making: Individual and Institutional Solutions’ will contribute to increasing quality of the educational assessment and from the new trends in assessment and decision making.

Over recent years, several successes are gained in the educational system of Azerbaijan. We are among pioneer countries apply the modern assessment system in the post-Soviet territory. The system performance is still highly evaluated by our society and gatherings organizing this assessment. At the same time, necessary studies are realized in our country based on international assessment development principles while improving also the legislative basis.

The assessment reliability in decision making process and the identification of relevant assessment methods in making better decisions remain the important issues of the agenda. I am certain that the wider discussions on various aspects of the assessment system planned in your conference uniting over 300 experts from 55 countries will play the important role in applying effectively the new assessment technologies and forming its standards.

I wish you all a good health and successes in your future activities.

Mehriban Aliyeva

First Vice President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Baku, 23 September, 2019