Main Directions of Sustainable Development in Education

Abstract

Objective: One of the important vectors of the strategic development of the EAEU countries (Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union) is the construction of a digital economy and digital education - the formation of a common market for educational services with norms that level the competitiveness of countries in the field of education, aimed at improving the quality of human capital. It should be noted that education was not included in the service sectors for which the EAEU common market is being formed. Only in relation to the common labor market, the EAEU countries agreed on the mutual recognition of documents on education without going through the procedure for recognizing diplomas (with the exception of papers on education in pedagogical, legal, medical, and pharmaceutical profiles), as well as on the right to receive education by children from families working in the country (Articles 97 and 98 of the Treaty on the EAEU). But five years before the creation of the EAEU, on December 11, 2009, the EAEU countries signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of education, according to which the parties «carry out coordinated measures to consistently expand the EAEU aimed at creating a common educational space». Research in the field of concerted action of the member countries of the EAEU, as a rule, is located in the area of higher education, and we do not find research in the field of general education in the public domain.   Theoretical framework: This study aims to identify the main directions of sustainable development in education in modern conditions. The choice of the topic is due to the importance of understanding the differences in the potential for digitalization of school education in the post-Soviet republics within the framework of the Eurasian Union and the hypothetical request of the Azerbaijani and Russian education systems to develop a resource matrix for the digital educational environment, as signaled by the roadmaps of the National Projects of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation in the field of education and economy in general.   Method: To compare the preparedness of schools in different countries for the digitalization of education for subsequent testing in the educational system of Azerbaijan, an analysis of the state of affairs was carried out according to the criteria: (1) material and technical equipment; (2) preparedness of teaching staff; (3) opportunities for the formation of a digital educational environment and an analysis of digital practices in the projects of schools in the EAEU member countries. The logic of the empirical part includes identifying the respondents' ideas about the possibilities of digitalizing school education in the EAEU countries. The result of the practical part will be the formed matrix of the «potential of school digitalization» in the context of the EAEU countries.   Results: The effect of the global digitalization of general education, triggered by the pandemic (COVID 19), is the reason for the emergence of research interest in the problem in the EAEU countries and the comparison of approaches and processes that accompany the phenomenon of digitalization of education. Moreover, advanced practices in digitalizing education have been identified among these countries, which can become the basis for further sustainable development.   Originality/value: The digitalization of education is a multifaceted phenomenon covering all human activity spheres. A phenomenon that needs to be comprehended, developed, and actively applied in practice is its consequences and advanced learning technologies to fit into the new, emerging digital world system. With a broad interpretation of the concept of «digitalization of education», it can be noted that the authors are unanimous that digitalization forms an educational environment that ensures the «delivery» of information to participants in the educational process using digital technologies and tools (software + multimedia equipment).