“Divorces, selective abortions due to the desire to have a boy child, or decisions to be content with only one child negatively affect the demographic situation in the country,” said education expert Elchin Afandi in an interview with the website Medianews.az.
According to the expert, the state of natural population growth is also reflected in the number of children entering the first grade over the past seven academic years.
Elchin Afandi stated that in the 2019-2020 academic year, 159,644 children, in 2020-2021 academic year 165,511 children, in 2021-2022 academic year 153,312 children, in 2022-2023 academic year 151,560 children, in 2023-2024 academic year 137,862 children, and in 2024-2025 academic year 132,261 children entered first grade.
For the 2025-2026 academic year, the number of children entering the first grade is estimated to be approximately 130 thousand.
E. Afandi believes that the relevant authorities should pay attention to this issue.
Naila Gasimova,
Medianews.az
