As reports Finance Time, referring to the “E-Azerbaijan.info”, in April 2013, Madad Azerbaijan launched the peer coaching and mentorship training for 531 secondary school educators in Baku, Barda, Qabala, Goychay, Qusar, Hajiqabul, Mingachevir, Shirvan, and Sumgayit. The project is supported by the Informatization Department on Education System of the Ministry of Education.

The training participants will benefit from the interactive one-week training and learn practical skills to become a mentor. Following the training, the participants will function as focal points in their schools and provide practical advice and guidance to their peers on the application of modern educational approaches, meeting the requirements of national curriculum, and the usage of educational technologies in teaching and learning. Thus, by creating peer coaching and ongoing mentorship opportunities, the project will provide impactful, effective, and affordable professional development for the educators to integrate the information and communication technologies and XXI Century teaching methodologies in classrooms.

The Peer Coaching initiative was started in the United States by Peer-Ed organization. The project was launched in 2011 in Azerbaijan within the State Program on Informatization of the Educational System in the Republic of Azerbaijan based on the memorandum of understanding signed between the Ministry of Education and Microsoft Partners in Learning Program. The educators from Baku, Sumgayit, Barda, Qakh, and Quba participated in the pilot project in 2012. The training materials were adapted to the local educational context by the expert group of Madad Azerbaijan.