A foundation for life: Private sector provision is expanding to absorb an increasing number of students

Public education in Algeria is free and remains the primary provider of services. In 2010 the government allocated some AD852bn (€7.84bn) to a five-year investment plan, with much of this funding to go towards the construction of new schools. The delivery of new infrastructure is progressing slowly, resulting in continued overcrowding in certain wilayas(provinces) for younger classes. However, this is expected to be temporary, particularly once new reforms introduced at the primary level shorten the cycle by one year.

Moreover, with 70% of Algeria’s population under the age of 30, strategic planning – particularly in tertiary education – will be crucial in providing curricula to support the youthful population to secure jobs. Efforts are also under way to bring professional training and education in line with the needs of the job market and curb youth unemployment, especially in underserved areas. These efforts, combined with the expansion of private education at all levels, including continuing education, are also helping develop much-needed skills.

EDUCATIONAL FRAMEWORK: Primary education starts at the age of six and lasts five years, while middle school lasts four years. These two cycles are compulsory and, along with the secondary cycle, are overseen by the Ministry of National Education. The 2012/13 academic year saw 3.58m pupils enrol in primary education and 2.81m in middle school. In a bid to make education more accessible and boost the quality of services, public spending per student in primary and middle school was increased from AD14,358 (€132.09) in 2000 to AD43,976 (€404.58) in 2010. Authorities have tightened legislation in recent years to raise school attendance, and in 2010 the government issued a law fining all parents who did not ensure their children attended school up until the age of 15. The legislation also prohibited year-long expulsions.

Enrolment rates for pupils aged six to 15 have improved as a result, rising from 90.7% in 2000 to 96% in 2012. The percentage of six-year-old children enrolling in their first year of primary education increased from 94% in 2000 to 98.2% in 2011. These measures are also expected to decrease the number of school dropouts for pupils under the age of 16, which currently stands at around 200,000, according to the ministry.

REFORMS: A broad-based reform programme was initiated in 2003 to improve the quality of education in primary and middle schools. The programme focused on four main axes: curricula, teacher training, equality in terms of success, and the modernisation of school management and administration.

In order to evaluate the sector’s performance over the past 10 years and identify its strengths and weaknesses, authorities conducted national consultations between February and April 2013. Among the aspects debated during these consultations were curricula, timetables, school holidays, class duration, teaching methods and available resources. During the meetings, authorities called for closer collaboration between local administrators, teacher unions and parental associations in primary and secondary education. Plans are also under way to establish a National Curriculum Council and National Council for Education and Training. Both organisations would be separate from the Ministry of National Education, and would be tasked with providing independent recommendations for improving instruction and teaching standards.

ACCESS & DISTRIBUTION: According to UNESCO guidelines, the number of students per classroom should not exceed 33, and on a national level, Algeria is within the norms as far as primary education is concerned. The average number of primary pupils per classroom stood at 27 in 2011, down from 30 in 2004, according to the Ministry of National Education. “The objective is to bring this down to 25,” Chaibe Ddra Tani Mohamed, director of evaluation at the ministry, told OBG.

On the other hand, the average number of middle school students per classroom stood at 37 in 2011, up from 36 in 2004. “The overcrowding is temporary and is associated with the simultaneous arrival of two different generations as a result of reforms introduced in 2008 that cut primary education down by one year,” Ddra said. “Our objective is to bring this number to 30.”

BUILDING UP: Indeed, the government is working to construct new schools to relieve overcrowding. In 2012/13, there were 19,146 primary schools and 5086 middle schools in Algeria. Under its 2010-14 five-year plan, the state is targeting an additional 3000 primary and 1000 middle schools. Work is under way in a number of wilayas; however, delays have been reported in the delivery of some projects. One of the main reasons for this is a lack of construction firms in certain regions, especially in the south of the country where it can be difficult to find construction companies capable of building schools in line with international norms.

The current situation with regards to class sizes, although temporary, is expected to draw officials’ attention to the need to plan ahead as the number of students enrolled in compulsory education and secondary education, estimated at more than 8m today, is expected to double by 2030. The pass rate at the final exam that marks the transition from middle school to secondary school, the Certificate of Secondary Education (Brevet de l’Enseignement Moyen, BEM), was 48% in July 2013, according to the Ministry of National Education. Although down from 72.1% in 2012, which was an unusually high pass rate, it maintains an ascending trend when compared to previous years.

SECONDARY SCHOOL: Secondary school is also overseen by the Ministry of National Education and lasts three years. Due to reforms introduced in 2008 that cut primary education down to five years instead of six, secondary schools are now witnessing the same overcrowding effects as middle schools. As a result, certain wilayas, including Algiers, saw the number of students per classroom rise as high as 40 students in the 2012/13 academic year. While the transitory effect of bringing in an extra year of students all at once is seen as the main cause behind the overcrowding in secondary schools, the pressure is unlikely to diminish any time soon, given the demographic evolution of the country (the birth rate rose year-on-year by 7.5% in 2012) and the high rate of urbanisation, for which existing public infrastructure already struggles to meet demand.

That said, the state has been putting in additional resources, with expenditure per secondary school student rising from AD30,990 (€285.11) in 2000 to AD76,103 (€700.15) in 2010. In the 2012/13 school year 1.49m pupils were enrolled across 1956 secondary schools nationwide. Under its 2010-14 five-year plan, the government aims to construct 850 new secondary schools, although this work is struggling to take off and delays have been reported in many wilayas. The success rate at the Baccalaureate exam, which marks the end of secondary school, stood at 44.7% in 2013, down from 58.5% in 2012.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING: After completing compulsory education, students can choose to enrol in secondary school or vocational training, which is overseen by the Ministry of Training and Professional Education. There are more than 800 vocational education and training institutes nationwide, and recent efforts have focused on broadening the range of courses to bring skills in line with the needs of the job market and meet the demands of enterprises for skilled labour.

As of January 2013, more than 400 courses were available to students. By expanding the range of programmes on offer, the country is also looking to reach the most underprivileged areas to enhance job options. For example, following recent discontent over employment opportunities in the hydrocarbons sector in the south of the country, the ministry is extending specialised courses in technical oilfield services and engineering. The need to expand offerings and reach out to underprivileged regions is crucial for the economic and social stability of the country, and an opportunity to absorb the rising number of unemployed youth.

HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT: Indeed, according to a report by the National Economic and Social Council, the unemployment rate for young people aged 16 to 24 stands at 22%. This high rate is not unique to Algeria, but rather a challenge for the entire North Africa region where youth unemployment stood at 23.7% in 2012 and is expected to hover around 24% until 2018. This is due in large part to the evolving requirements of the job market and the inadequacy of existing training in this context, leaving qualified young people out of work when their skills do not match labour market needs.

According to the International Labour Organisation, young people with post-secondary education account for 21.4% of the unemployed in Algeria. As part of its plan to bring courses in line with the needs of the job market, and enhance the quality of vocational education and training, the Ministry of Training and Professional Education signed a cooperation agreement with France’s Ministry of National Education in June 2013. The partnership, which will extend through 2017, will train teachers in strategic sectors such as agriculture, construction and graphic art. Moreover, the agreement intends to enhance cooperation between Algerian and French professional training centres, which in turn should allow for technological transfers and improve the content of courses and sector management.

HIGHER EDUCATION: Higher education, which is overseen by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, is also an option for those students who do not pursue technical or vocational training. The sector has seen considerable investment in infrastructure since 2000 to accommodate the rising number of entrants, which increased five-fold between 1990 and 2011, reaching 1.2m students. In the public sector, there are currently 91 higher education providers.

Among the most recent projects is a medical school completed in early August 2013 in Soumaa, as part of the Saad Dahleb University in Blida, offering 2000 places. Around 4000 places are also expected to be added in the wilaya of Bouïra during the 2013/14 academic year, as part of a project to construct a university with a total capacity of 9000 students.

Work has also been under way since 2011 to build a university in Illizi, offering up to 2000 places. “Higher education in Algeria has seen a sizeable change both in terms of operational efficiency and infrastructure,” Farouk Moukah, general-director of the International Institute of Management (Institut International de Management, INSIM), told OBG. “However, this evolution was not accompanied by a long-term vision, and quantity has superseded quality in public higher education.”

HIGHER DEGREES: Indeed, the compatibility of the licence-master-doctorat (LMD) structure – first introduced in 2004 – with the Algerian system has raised scrutiny as to how efficient it has been in bringing curricula in line with the needs of the job market. “The LMD system was imported and imposed rather than planned and adapted to the local context,” Moukah told OBG. “Nevertheless, the system is still in its early days; economic sectors are still developing, and there is demand for qualified human resources. Therefore, with a judicious strategy taking the current needs of Algeria into account , it is still possible to bring programmes in line with the economic reality of the country.”

PRIVATE SECTOR EDUCATION: Private higher education is absorbing an increasing number of students year to year. This is partly a consequence of the development of private primary and secondary education over the past decade, which is in turn due to the fact that many parents want their children to pursue a French education, particularly following a cabinet decision in 2004 that 90% of curricula would be taught exclusively in Arabic, unlike in the past when a large portion of teaching was done in French. Private tuition through associations teaching exclusively in French and following the French school programme rose after this decision was taken. As the popularity of this teaching method grew, the government stepped in to regulate the situation, offering state authorisation to certain educational providers in the private sector, providing they followed the national education programme. In the tertiary segment, private establishments are limited to delivering two-year technical diplomas (Brevet de Technicien Supérieur, BTS) or they can deliver higher education degrees in partnership with a foreign university. The BTS degree is recognised by the Algerian government and delivered by the Ministry of Training and Professional Education. To pursue a BTS degree, students do not necessarily need to have obtained a Baccalaureate degree.

The restriction on higher education degrees has stimulated partnerships with foreign institutions. INSIM, for instance, delivers MBAs in partnership with the University of Quebec and the Paris Graduate School of Management. The School of Technical Training Management (Ecole de Formation en Technique de Gestion, EFTG) delivers diplomas in partnership with the Paris-based European Institute of Business Administration (Institut Européen des Affaires, IEA) and French ICN business school (Nancy-Metz). Such partnerships generally allow students to benefit from foreign tutoring, exchanges and a double diploma. Increased demand in recent years for continuing education is also driving growth in private provision, particularly resulting from the implementation of global standard and regulatory frameworks in the workplace, such as International Financial Reporting Standards.

REGIONAL COOPERATION: Opportunities for regional cooperation in higher education are also attracting more attention, particularly after the Maghreb Ministerial Council for Education and Higher Education that took place in 2009 – a meeting that prompted Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania to align basic education curricula and work towards mutual accreditation of Maghreb universities, as well as encourage greater mobility among students and faculty.

In May 2012 Algeria signed an agreement with Morocco aimed at exchanging information and expertise on a variety of educational topics, including curricula, human resources development and administration. The agreement should also allow student exchanges in foreign-language programmes, as well as science and technology. More recently, another cooperation agreement was entered into with Tunisia in May 2013 to allow student and professor exchanges and work towards establishing a common university degree. The agreement is first expected to benefit seven Tunisian and Algerian universities located along the borders of the two countries. In addition to strengthening links in the Maghreb region, the country has ambitions to expand further on the African continent.

In 2011 Algeria was chosen to host the Pan African University (PAU) for North Africa. PAU is an African Union initiative aimed at increasing education standards through increased post-graduate research and has established numerous campuses as satellite centres across the continent. Until Algeria receives its own campus, 40 doctoral and 50 master’s degree students were to conduct their research at 11 Algerian universities, making use of the laboratories and equipment at these facilities. A recently concluded agreement between the African Development Bank and the African Union Commission, which granted the country $45m to help establish PAU, should allow work to progress.

LANGUAGES: In 2004, the government decreed that 90% of the curriculum must be taught in Arabic. “Up to the end of secondary education, curricula are taught in Arabic,” Hayet Sai, director of pedagogical development at the EFTG business school, told OBG. “However, it switches to French at university. This has created a language barrier between the various educational stages, causing many students to fail their first year at university.” The impact of the disconnect between the language of compulsory and tertiary education also extends into graduates’ work prospects. “In such a globalised age, it is important that taught curricula is in line with the language of the business world,” Sai said.

Demand for private English tuition has attracted considerable interest over the past decade, in line with foreign direct investment and the arrival of multinationals, making English a necessity more than an option. The advent of the internet and increased exposure to international television channels are also two factors encouraging more Algerians to learn English.

Nevertheless, in recent years the level of English taught in public schools has been insufficient to achieve the required level of proficiency by students and professionals, a gap which private language schools are increasingly seeking to bridge. Further international collaboration is necessary for the country to achieve its objectives. “The best way to encourage English teaching is through partnerships and reaching out to English-speaking countries, especially when it comes to teacher training,” Hacene Chaib, general manager at Algerian Learning Centres, a network of private English schools, told OBG. “The ambition is there, however more financial means and political will are needed.” The British Council is expected to reopen its English-language learning centre in September 2014 as part of its strategy to contribute towards enhancing English teaching and learning in Algeria.

OUTLOOK: Enhanced foreign cooperation, the planned delivery of new infrastructure and the expansion of the private sector are all promising developments for Algerian education and could potentially encourage more students to opt for diplomas delivered in-country rather than pursuing them abroad. Combined with the rising number of entrants every year, this will require additional investment in infrastructure, as well as efforts to bring training and teaching programmes in line with the demands of the domestic economy.

The private sector, however, which is largely new to Algerian education provision but also relatively small compared to the public sector, is rapidly adapting to changes and has been particularly responsive in complying with the requirements of the modern economy. This is driving demand and pushing for the sector’s expansion. “The private sector is proving faster in responding to new trends and has the flexibility to devise new programmes and extend training to niche segments, whereas public sector participation has been minimal in offering new provision,” Moukah told OBG.