Education in Algeria

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Education in Algeria
Ministry of National Education
General details
Primary languages Arabic, French .
Literacy (2015)
Total80%
Male87%
Female73%

Education in Algeria is free and compulsory for Algerians from the ages of 6 to 15. [1] However, only half of Algerian students are enrolled in secondary schools. [2] As of 2015, Algeria has 92 post-secondary institutions, which includes 48 universities. [3]

Contents

History

Before the French conquest of Algiers in 1830, religious lands called hubus paid for Muslim teachers. [4] When the French colonized Algeria, they seized the hubus, which ended traditional education funding. [4] During the colonization of Algeria, Napoleon III reestablished the usage of madrasa schools and created primary schools that were both in Arabic and French. [5] However, during the Third Republic, the Parisian government tried to assimilate Algerians into the French culture, but their policies were frustrated by french colonists who blocked funding for new schools. [4]

After the war for independence, Algeria introduced several policies to reform and strengthen the educational structure. The Ministry of Education was created in 1963. [6] Arabization of the school curriculum—replacing French language and values with Arab language and values—was a key priority of the new ministry. [7]

Educational System

University of Bejaia. Tasdawit n Bgayet 01.jpg
University of Béjaïa.

In Algeria, 24% of children were enrolled in pre-school as of 2004. [8] New reforms have been implemented since 2003 to make pre-schooling more accessible.

Primary school lasts for 5 years. [6] Then, students move on to 4 [9] years of lower secondary school and 3 additional years of upper secondary school. [6] Primary and Lower Secondary Education, which is termed "Enseignment Fondemental" is the basic education that everyone is required to receive. [10] If students wish to pursue higher education, they must take the baccalauréat, a national exam. [6]

There are approximately 57 public institutions for higher education, which include "27 universities, 13 university centers, 6 national schools (écoles nationales), 6 national institutes (instituts nationaux), and 4 teacher-training institutes (écoles normales supérieures)." [6] As of 2015, Algeria has 92 post-secondary institutions, which includes 48 universities. [3] People typically study three years for a bachelor's degree, two years for a Master's Program, and three years for a doctorate. [6]

School Children In Algeria 1967 School Children In Algeria (6813573960).jpg
School Children In Algeria 1967

Languages

Students in Algeria are primarily taught in Arabic, although teachers have been allowed to teach in Berber as of 2003. Berber teaching is allowed in Algerian schools to remove the complaints of Arabization and need for non-Algerian teachers. [2] In 1994, Kabyle pupils and students boycotted Algerian schools for a year, demanding the officialization of Berber, leading to the symbolic creation of the Haut Commissariat à l'Amazighité (HCA) in 1995. Berber was subsequently taught as a non-compulsory language in Berber speaking areas. [11] As of 2017, 350,000 pupils were studying tamazight in 38 wilayas out of 58, [12] representing 4% of all students. [13] 90% of them study tamazight in Latin characters. [14] [15] In 2018, the government announced that optional classes of tamazight will be offered in all public primary and secondary schools in the future. [16] [17] The generalization of Amazigh education was met with some opposition in Arabic-speaking areas. [18] As of 2023, according to the education minister, education in Amazigh is still being rolled out to all Algerian schools. [19]

Before colonialism, Algeria was home primarily to Arabic and Berber speakers. [4] Due to Algeria's French colonial past, French was the first foreign language taught in Algerian schools. [20] However, a month before independence, Algerian revolutionary leaders declared that the future State would be committed to arabisation. [21] Ahmed Ben Bella implemented linguistic arabisation laws in primary schools and required teaching in Arabic on all levels from 1963/1964. [21] [7] In 2004, language restrictions were enforced that made 90% of all teaching in Algerian schools in Arabic. [22] In November 2005, Parliament passed laws that banned private schools from teaching in any other language but Arabic. [21]

Linguistics has been a source of contention for the Algerian educational system. The shift from bilingualism in French and Arabic to monolingualism in Arabic has created issues with graduates trying to enter the economic market. [21] [7]

Literacy

UIS literacy rate Algeria population plus 15 1980-2015 UIS Literacy Rate Algeria population plus15 1980 2015.png
UIS literacy rate Algeria population plus 15 1980–2015

The literacy rate in Algeria has improved significantly in the decades since independence from France. In 1950, the Algerian adult literacy rate was less than 20%. [23] After independence in 1962, more than 85% of the population was still illiterate. [24] As of 2015, Algeria's literacy rate is estimated to be around 80%, higher than the literacy rates of Morocco and Egypt, but lower than Libya's literacy rate. Of the 2015 literacy rate, 87% of Algerian males are literate, compared to 73% of Algerian females. [25]

Since the Multilingual National Strategy for Literacy was put in place in 2008, over 3.6 million Algerians have been lifted out of illiteracy. Between 2008 and 2022, the illiteracy rate fell from 22.30% to 7.4%. Algeria's efforts have been rewarded with the 2019 UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize. [26]

Funding and Employment

Education makes up 28% of Algeria's national budget. [27] Algeria has one of the largest shortages of teachers in Northern Africa, with 200,000 primary teachers needed to help reach the United Nations's Sustainable Development Goal for education, as of 2016. [28]

Education by numbers

The number of children enrolled in school has increased significantly post-independence. In 1962, there were only 750,000 children enrolled in primary school and 3,000 students attending universities. [29] By 1984, there were more than 900,000 students enrolled in school and 107,000 students in college. [29] In 2005, enrollment rates were about 97% at primary school level and 66% at secondary school level. [30]

Statistics by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics for the 2011–2012 academic year: [31]

PupilsCensus
Primary school3.452.000
Lower secondary school3.240.000
Upper Secondary school1.333.000
Total8.023.000

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berber languages</span> Family of languages and dialects indigenous to North Africa

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kabyle language</span> Berber language of northern Algeria

Kabyle or Kabylian is a Berber language (tamazight) spoken by the Kabyle people in the north and northeast of Algeria. It is spoken primarily in Kabylia, east of the capital Algiers and in Algiers itself, but also by various groups near Blida, such as the Beni Salah and Beni Bou Yaqob.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Algeria</span>

Arabic, particularly the Algerian Arabic dialect, is the most widely spoken language in Algeria, but a number of regional and foreign languages are also spoken. The official languages of Algeria are Arabic and Berber, as specified in its constitution since 1963 for the former and since 2016 for the latter. Berber has been recognized as a "national language" by constitutional amendment since 8 May 2002. In February 2016, a constitutional resolution was passed making Berber an official language alongside Arabic. Arabic is spoken by about 81% of Algerians, while Berber languages are spoken by 27%. French, though it has no official status, is still used in media and education due to Algeria's colonial history. Kabyle, with 3 million speakers, is the most spoken Berber language in the country, is taught and partially co-official in parts of Kabylie.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in Morocco</span>

The education system in Morocco comprises pre-school, primary, secondary and tertiary levels. School education is supervised by the Ministry of National Education, with considerable devolution to the regional level. Higher education falls under the Ministry of Higher Education and Executive Training.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass media in Algeria</span>

Algeria has more than 45 independent Arabic language and French language publications as well as 4 government-owned newspapers, but the government controls most printing presses and advertising. The Algerian newspapers with the largest circulations are Echourouk (1,800,000), Ennahar (1,600,000), El Khabar (1,000,000) and Quotidien d'Oran (700,000); all four are employee-owned. In 2004 and 2005, the government increased the access of Berber language and culture to both print and broadcast media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in Madagascar</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berriane</span> Commune and town in Ghardaïa Province, Algeria

Berriane is a medium-sized town and commune in the south of Algeria, coextensive with Bérianne District, in Ghardaïa Province, Algeria. It is located in the north of the Sahara desert, in the extreme North of the wilaya of Ghardaïa, 554 kilometres (344 mi) south of Algiers and 43 kilometres (27 mi) north of Ghardaïa City. As of the 2008 census it has a population of 30,200, up from 24,802 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 2.0%. It occupies an area of 2.250 km2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Morocco</span>

Arabic, particularly the Moroccan Arabic dialect, is the most widely spoken language in Morocco, but a number of regional and foreign languages are also spoken. The official languages of Morocco are Modern Standard Arabic and Standard Moroccan Berber. Moroccan Arabic is by far the primary spoken vernacular and lingua franca, whereas Berber languages serve as vernaculars for significant portions of the country. The languages of prestige in Morocco are Arabic in its Classical and Modern Standard Forms and sometimes French, the latter of which serves as a second language for approximately 33% of Moroccans. According to a 2000–2002 survey done by Moha Ennaji, author of Multilingualism, Cultural Identity, and Education in Morocco, "there is a general agreement that Standard Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, and Berber are the national languages." Ennaji also concluded "This survey confirms the idea that multilingualism in Morocco is a vivid sociolinguistic phenomenon, which is favored by many people."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bounoura</span> Commune and town in Ghardaïa Province, Algeria

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnic groups in Algeria</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerba Berber</span> Berber language of Tunisia

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The Haut commissariat à l'amazighité is a government department in Algeria overseeing the Berber (Amazigh) sphere.

Tamazight, or Standard Algerian Berber, is the standardized national variety of Berber spoken in Algeria. It is under active development since the officialization of Berber in Algeria in 2016.

Fodil Mezali is an Algerian journalist, editor-in-chief and managing editor.

References

  1. ↑ Singh, Kishore. "Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education". ohchr.org. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  2. 1 2 Algeria country profile. Library of Congress Federal Research Division (May 2008). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. 1 2 Naylor, Phillip, C. (2015). Historical Dictionary of Algeria. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 221. ISBN   978-0810879195 . Retrieved 20 October 2016.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. 1 2 3 4 Segalla, Spencer D. (2009-01-01). Moroccan Soul: French Education, Colonial Ethnology, and Muslim Resistance, 1912–1956. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN   978-0803224681.
  5. ↑ Naylor, Phillip, C. (2015). Historical Dictionary of Algeria. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 404. ISBN   978-0810879195 . Retrieved 20 October 2016.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Education in Maghreb: Algeria - WENR". wenr.wes.org. April 2006. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
  7. 1 2 3 Masri, Safwan M. (2017). "A Different Trajectory". Tunisia : an Arab anomaly. New York. p. 264. ISBN   978-0-231-54502-0. OCLC   974992445.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. ↑ Bouzoubaa, Khadija; Benghabrit-Remaoun, Nouria (2004). "Pre-School Education in Morocco and Algeria1". Prospects. 34 (4): 471–480. doi:10.1007/s11125-005-2738-x. S2CID   144340313.
  9. ↑ https://www.epdc.org/sites/default/files/documents/EPDC_NEP_2018_Algeria.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  10. ↑ "Algeria". Education Policy Data Center. Archived from the original on 2018-05-15. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
  11. ↑ Leclerc, Jacques; Jean, Lionel (2021-07-27). "Algérie: Les droits linguistiques des berbérophones". Université Laval.
  12. ↑ "APS - Le Conseil des ministres adopte un projet de loi fixant les fêtes légales". HCA CMS (in French). Retrieved 2023-02-26.
  13. ↑ Journaliste 2 (2018-02-26). "Enseignement du Tamazight: ces chiffres qui disent les contraintes". www.algerie360.com (in French). Retrieved 2023-02-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑ "Horizons - La transcription de tamazight au centre d'un colloque du HCA; entre le tifinagh, l'arabe et le latin…". HCA CMS (in French). Retrieved 2023-02-26.
  15. ↑ Zmirli, Amayas (2018-01-13). "Algérie - Tamazight : un si long chemin". Le Point (in French). Retrieved 2023-02-26.
  16. ↑ Dendoune, Nadir (2018-10-22). "Un mouvement de boycott de l'enseignement de l'arabe paralyse plusieurs collèges et lycées". lecourrierdelatlas (in French). Retrieved 2023-02-26.
  17. ↑ "Education nationale: généralisation de l'enseignement de tamazight en 2021 (document)". Algérie infos (in French). 2020-03-04. Archived from the original on 2023-02-26. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
  18. ↑ Benyakoub, Ryma Maria (2018-10-26). "Arabe – tamazight L'école envahie par la colère et la vengeance". El Watan (in French).
  19. ↑ "Le HCA plaide une généralisation de l'enseignement de tamazight". Le Jeune Indépendant (in French). 2023-01-16. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
  20. ↑ Negadi, Mohammed Nassim (August 2015). "Learning English in Algeria through French-based background proficiency". Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. 199: 496–500. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.07.537 . Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  21. 1 2 3 4 Benrabah, Mohamed (2007-06-01). "Language-in-Education Planning in Algeria: Historical Development and Current Issues". Language Policy. 6 (2): 225–252. doi:10.1007/s10993-007-9046-7. ISSN   1568-4555. S2CID   144173685.
  22. ↑ The Report: Algeria 2014. Oxford Business Group. 2014-12-30. p. 217. ISBN   978-1-910068-20-5.
  23. ↑ "Education for All Global Monitoring Report" (PDF). UNESCO: 193. 2006.
  24. ↑ Learning, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong (2015-11-24). "Effective Literacy Programmes". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  25. ↑ "The World Factbook". cia.gov. Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  26. ↑ "Enseignement des adultes : Plus de 3,64 millions d'Algériens libérés de l'analphabétisme depuis 2008". El watan. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  27. ↑ "UNICEF Annual Report 2015 Algeria" (PDF). unicef.org. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  28. ↑ "The world needs almost 69 million new teachers to reach the 2030 education goals" (PDF). uis.unesco.org. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  29. 1 2 Entelis, John P. (2016-01-08). Algeria: The Revolution Institutionalized. Routledge. p. 117. ISBN   978-1-317-36097-1.
  30. ↑ "Algeria: Education". EIU ViewsWire. 1 April 2008. ProQuest   466507125.
  31. ↑ "National Education Profile 2014 Update" (PDF). epdc.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 January 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2016.

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