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Algeria: Algeria Education Profile

2015/09/01

Algeria education

 

Primary Education

Education is mandatory and free for all Algerian children from age 6 through the 9 years of primary school that follow. Despite this, a number of children still fail to attend and the situation is worse for girls. The medium of education is Arabic. An average school day is 6 hours.

Secondary Education

Less than half the children who complete primary school take their studies further. At secondary level there are 3 streams, namely general, specialized and technical / vocational. Those in the initial 2 of these study for 3 years before writing their baccalauréat de l'enseignement secondaire that is the key to tertiary education. Technical / vocational education may last between 1 and 4 years, and aims to prepare students for an active life in industry. It may as well lead to higher education in certain cases.

Education System in Algeria

Education System in Algeria

Vocational Education

The Algerian vocational training system is steadily being transformed to one that is additional in harmony with the country’s needs and an emerging additional progressive employment environment. This process is supported by a number of other nations, as it continues to be in active dialogue with local traditional and religious values too.

Tertiary Education

Algeria has a wide range of universities, and other centers of higher education too inclunding specialized and teacher training institutes. Degrees awarded are based on the field of study, and curriculums are standardized by the ministry of higher education.


The oldest Algerian institution is the University of Algiers founded in 1909. It began with specialized schools of law, letters, medicine, pharmacy, and sciences, and presently has 7 faculties in total. Its Islamic Pavilion is illustrated here. 

Grading System in AlgeriaGrading System in Algeria

Algeria has made significant evolution in improving its social indicators and is on track to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Generally speaking, access to basic education is improving: in 2008, the gross enrolment rate for compulsory education had reached 97.4% for 6 year-olds and 95.28% for 6-to-15 year-olds.

According to the new United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) figures, Algeria had a combined gross enrolment rate of 73.6% and was ranked 89th out of 182 nations. Enrolment in secondary schools is higher part girls than boys. This is because part boys there is a higher drop-out rate at primary school (10.3% in 2008) and a repetition rate of 14.4%. In higher education, the gross enrolment rate part girls (25.3%) was as well higher than boys (24.4%) in 2008.

The literacy rate for adults over the age of 15 improved in 2009 to 75.4%, from 70% in 2008. The sector acquired 361 new primary schools, 402 new middle schools and 137 new high schools in 2009.
In addition to the opening of three selective postgraduate schools (grandes écoles) and preparatory classes for the grandes écoles in 2009, the authorities plan to create an Institut algérien des mines in the southern city of Tamanrasset to train mining engineers and technicians.

A Conseil consultatif de la communauté algérienne à l'étranger was as well set up in 2009 to encourage the Algerian diaspora to contribute to the country's development. The Research Institute on Sustainable Human Development as part of the United Nations University (UNU-IRADDA) was as well set up in Algeria in 2009.

The government’s 2009-13 development plan for the education sector aims to better prepare workers for the job market and decrease the high unemployment rate (14%). New vocational training centres will be built to meet 14% of the country’s projected training needs for 2025. In June 2009, officials from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania announced their intentions to coordinate basic education curricula, potentially enabling students to find jobs in neighbouring nations. While the private sector remains limited, the government recently passed legislation allowing for the establishment of private universities.

As of 2005, 90% of material must be taught in Arabic, and seven years of English instruction has been required for the completed two years. In a programme with the French Embassy that ended in 2009, 890 Algerian French-language academics were trained by professors from France. A growing youth people has put pressure on Algeria’s education system – the Ministry of National Education plans to open 383 new secondary schools in the near next and reduce class size to 25 pupils by 2012.
 

Algeria Credentials

Algeria Credentials

Universities in Algeria

This list includes universities, colleges, vocational schools, and other higher education institutions.

Universities in Algeria  This list includes universities, colleges, vocational schools, and other higher education institutions.