b y
ABBAD MESSAOUD
A dissertation submitted in part-fulfilment of the requirements for the Master's Degree in Education of the University of Wales.
JULY, 1980
Acknowledgements
I am profoundly indebted to Professor A. Taylor, the Dean of the Faculty of Education, who supervised the work with patience and constant help and encouragement throughout the period of this dissertation.
I wish to acknowledge my sincere gratitude for my wife and our children for their cooperation and support. I would also like to convey my thanks to my parents who have supported me morally during my study leave.
I am grateful to the Education Department Librarian, Mr. T. Dawkes, and his staff, particularly Miss C. Rhys, for their help in providing materials related to my work.
Finally I wish to extend my thanks to my
friends in Algeria who supplied me with valuable
materials for my work.
LIST OF CONTENTS Declaration
Acknowledgement List of Contents Abstract
Introduction
CHAPTER ONE: BACKGROUND TO THE CURRENT 1 SITUATION
1 The effects of the lack of 2 qualified personnel
2 The growth in pupils numbers and 8 its consequences
3 Shortage in school building at 15 all levels
4 Student guidance 18
5 Lack of qualified teachers 21
CHAPTER TWO: DEVELOPMENTS IN TEACHER 26 EDUCATION TO MEET GENERAL
EDUCATION POLICY
1 The effects of Educational 27 Planning on teacher development
and school programme building
2 Entrance qualifications for 29 student teachers in 'Normal
Colleges' for Education ( traditional system)
3 Entrance requirement for the 30 Institutes of Technology
for Education
Page 4 The increase of the number of 31
teachers from the Institutes of Technology
5 Quantitative weaknesses in 37 teacher training and its
effects on teachers' standard
6 The need for new schools 41 7 Delays in the completion in the 42
school buildings
8 Budget for the development of 47 Education
CHAPTER THREE: THE BEGINNINGS OF THE 52 RESTRUCTURING OF PRIMARY
AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
1 The Middle Polytechnic 53 Fundamental School and its role
in teaching and industrial development
a. Background of the present 53 educational system and its
defects (Primary, Middle, Secondary and University)
2 Disadvantages of the present 58 educational system
3 Recent reform in education 63 prior to adopting the Middle
Polytechnic Fundamental school as a basic reform
4 The Middle Polytechnic 67 Fundamental School
5 Qualifications provided by 71 'M.P.F.S.'
6 The growing need for teachers 72 7 The needs for new schools and 73
equipment
8 Difficulties caused by the 73 uneven distribution
of population
9 Consequences for secondary 74 education
10 Evaluation of the Middle 75 Polytechnic Fundamental School
policy
CHAPTER FOUR: THE NEED FOR DEVELOPMENT OF 81 INDUSTRIAL AND VOCATIONAL
EDUCATION
1 Industrial, Agricultural and 82 Education:historical background
and the lack of technical staff
a. Industrial failure 82
b. Agricultural failure 85 c. The failure of Education to 87
produce qualified staff
2 Revolutionary planning for the 88 country's development after
coup d'etat of 1965
3 Critical points in the industrial 91 area
4 The poor returns of the 95 agriculture sector
CHAPTER FIVE: GOVERNMENT POLICY AND VOCATIONAL 101 EDUCATION
1 Vocational and Technical 102 education's contribution to
development after independence
Page 2 Algerian attitudes towards 103
vocational and technical education
3 The educational system and 105 the application of new policy
4 Intermediate vocational schools 106 and their effects on preparing
youth for job
5 Entrance conditions 107
6 The present industrial needs for 108 highly qualified personnel
7 The technical teacher situation 111
CHAPTER SIX: SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 115
Bibliography 121
CHAPTER ONE: Page 1.1 The percentages of Algerian staff 4
from 1962/67.
1.2 Numbers of teachers in 'Normal 5 Colleges' 1969/70.
1.3 Increase in the number of monitors 5 during 1962/67.
1.4 Graduate teachers from Institutes 7 of Technology.
1.5 Growth in Primary School numbers 10 1962-74
1.6 Growth in pupil numbers at Middle 13 and Secondary levels 1962/72
1.7 The increase of the budget devoted 14 to the public education.
1.8 Development in the school building 16 programmes 1965/75
CHAPTER TWO:
2.1 The number of Institutes of 29 Technology for Education.
2.2 The increase in the number of 32 teachers in Algeria 1973/78
2.3 The needs for foreign teachers 33 1979/80.
2.4 The need for foreign teachers in 34 science subjects at the Middle
and Secondary school level.
2.5 Growth of pupils in the three 36 levels of education.
2.6 Increase in pupil numbers 1979/80 41
Page
2.7 Progress in the Middle and 43
Secondary school building programme 1970-73.
2.8 Budget devoted to the Ministry of 47 Education in Million of AD - 1965/70.
2.9 Comparison between State's budget 48 and education 1971-75.
CHAPTER THREE:
3.1 Increase in the number of Algerian 57 students at university from
1963/73.
3.2 Degrees awarded by the Universities 57 during 1970/75
3.3 Increase in the production of 64 textbooks
3.4 The number of illiterates in 66
millions (1971) .
3.5 The structure of Middle Polytechnic 67 Fundamental School.
3.6 Timetable of the third level of 70 'M.P.F.S.'
CHAPTER FOUR:
4.1 Textile production and employment 91 created.
4.2 Student number studied abroad at 94 the postgraduate 1975/76
4.3 Students sent to study abroad in the 97
agricultural sector 1967/78.
CHAPTER FIVE: Page 5.1 Numbers of students registered in 103
technical school 1965-78.
5.2 Students registered in Middle and 104 Secondary general education 1965/78.
5.3 Evaluation of vocational and 108
professional training 1947-1977.
the effects of educational planning on the development of
teachers and industrial education in Algeria with a view to what should be future policy. In more advanced societies,
education is considered the cornerstone for the development
of modern technology. In its turn, Algeria is beginning
to achieve this through a variety of attempts to formulate
and meet the educational objectives required to cope with
technological requirements and economic change. Chapter
One discusses the acute shortage of qualified cadres at
all levels, above all school-teachers, and describes the
low standards and poor guidance. The second chapter
specifies three priorities: planning for providing
teachers, transformation of 'Normal Colleges' into
Institutes of Technology for Education, and the budget
devoted to the education system, all in relation to the
growth of pupil numbers. Chapter Three attempts to
analyse the main reasons for creating the Middle Poly-
technic Fundamental schools which will replace the present
system, and explains the defects of the present educational
system. Chapter Four considers the low output of industry
and agriculture and describes the inability of education
to provide qualified cadres for their development, because
of the unsuitable form of the inherited education system.
Chapter Five gives a brief note on the attitudes towards the development of technical and vocational education, and the attention paid to it, with an examination of strategy for future development.
The final Chapter gives a brief summary and
recommendations for further work.
Introduction
After an exhausting battle against the French, Algeria achieved its independence. The main aim of the new policy was to reshape the orientation of the economy previously geared to France by a change from the
traditional agricultural system to industrialization through which the government intended to solve the problem of
unemployment. In achieving these goals Algeria was plagued with such problems as lack of finance, shortage of high level qualified personnel, surplus of unskilled labour, and unrealistic planning. The acute scarcity of trained and skilled manpower in agriculture, industry, commerce,
government administration and education is usually ascribed to the result of the educational system of colonial days.
This unavoidable situation has delayed the implementation of development plans and objectives because the school
curricula and teaching methods were not fully adapted to the needs and interests of preparing technicians and qualified professionals who could positively contribute to the
development of the above-mentioned fields. Vocational schools and apprenticeship schemes were few and could not provide for all the skills necessary for a modern
competitive technology. The teachers were very largely
unqualified and unable to recognize that vocational and
technical education had become a necessity and was a
one - so that foreign aid still plays a part in the development activities. The low standard of students graduating from schools and higher colleges has affected the whole national enterprise. This again is in part due to the low professional level of teaching staff, and has
brought about considerable difficulties for the Algerian government in the exploitation of resources and assets, because of the shortage of manpower of all kinds. In other words, regardless of Algeria's ambitions, shortage of
professional, technical and highly skilled workers, and lack of educational opportunities meant that the manpower needs in the first years after independence were not met.
However, after the coup d'etat of 1965, the country became more stabilized and the problem of finance was overcome through the discovery and exploitation of energy and mineral resources which led to the adoption of new
development plans. Another important positive side was that an emerging shift in emphasis and orientation towards a more functional approach to education was adopted as
national policy, and priority was given to vocational and technical education. The three revolutions - industrial, agricultural and educational - are in progress and the country's economy is being increasingly controlled by
Algerians themselves as the difficulties listed earlier are
being overcome.
CHAPTER ONE
BACKGROUND TO THE CURRENT SITUATION
CONTENTS
1. The effects of the lack of qualified personnel.
2. The growth in pupil numbers and its consequences.
3. Shortages of school building at all levels.
4. Student guidance.
5. Lack of qualified teachers.
1. The effects of the lack of qualified personnel
The inhabitants of Algeria lived for 132 years under French Colonial rule during which time their
development was neglected. There was no effective educational plan for the Algerian majority for the colonial administration provided education only for a minority of Algerian children. A. Ben Mohamed (1974) stated that 'the Algerian children represented only 8%, while French children represented 92% of those attending primary schools'.
The Colonial plan was to transform Algerians into Frenchmen by forbidding the use of the Arabic
language as an official language. As a result, there was a wide-scale migration from urban areas to the country- side, where there was an extremely limited provision of education at all levels. Even for those who remained in the cities, there were only limited opportunities for Algerian children. (Alf. Andrew Heggoy (1976)). The
result, as A.Taleb ex-Minister of Education (1967) said, was that in 1962, 75% of Algerians were illiterate.
In the first years of independence following
1962, the demand for education led to an acute shortage
of teachers for as,A. Ben Mohamed (1973) stated, "16,000
teachers in different disciplines left Algerian schools
in 1962/63 on the attainment of independence." Since education in socialist Algeria was made a right for all children, it was essential for the government with its limited financial and manpower resources to seek
assistance from Arab and European countries in order to keep the educational system operating.
This was done in two ways. The first was to send Algerian students abroad for training and, secondly, to bring teachers from abroad to supplement its own training programme. Overcrowding in schools posed an equally acute problem to the Ministry of Education. This, in conjunction with the inherited shortage of teachers caused the
Ministry of Education to employ monitors. (Ministry of Education (1972/73)). These monitors received a short
period of training of between 15 and 30 days before taking up their posts, and were required to attend weekly lessons given by inspectors and advisers. The Decree of 12th
October 1963 established a correspondence-courses centre to help the monitors, but this failed and was followed by the Decree of 6th October 1964, which permitted inspectors of Primary and Middle schools to open one or two centres in their districts for general education and pedagogical training. These were intended to prepare monitors for the examination for the Certificate of 'C.C.G.P.', and have them recognized as fully
* "C.C.G.P" is a pedagogical and professional Certificate.
1962-1963 64% 90% 47% 49% -
1963-1964 58% 100% 42% 42% 35%
1964-1965 70% 100% 42% 44% 31%
1965-1966 73% 100% 40% 62% 39%
1966-1967 80% 100% 43% 64% 40%
Year 1962/63 1963/64 1964/65 1965/66 1966/67
Total 8.197 13.000 11.638 13.185 13.652
1. The Algerian system gives all children the right to education.
2. Foreign teachers are an unreliable source for the development of an educational system since their numbers fluctuate and their period of service is short-lived.
3. The Algerian family, on the average, has about six children, thus creating a strong demand for an increasing number of scools and teachers.
4. The government policy regards education as an
important factor in a developing society, which badly needs qualified people to contribute to the growth of the economy in industry and agriculture. (National Liberation Fruit (.1964) .) The realization of these aims, require qualified personnel in a whole range of fields. For these reasons, the government felt it necessary to change the approach of the schools in terms of teaching methods and curricula and to decrease the length of teacher training from four
years to one year. As part of this policy, the teacher
training colleges, 'Normal colleges' were transformed
into Institutes of Technology for Education under
Ordinance 70.115 of 1st August 1970. In all, 27 of
these institutes were established of which 22 were
designed to train teachers for primary education and 5
for the middle education level.
1971/72 4.054 980 5.034 1.347 6.381
Total 7.835 1.158 8.993 1.992 11.885
good quality teacher from 1962 to the end of the First Four Year Plan 1970/73. The aim of this period of rapid development was to meet in part, the needs of the coming generation, and to overcome the problem of vast numbers of people without any education resulting from the French Colonial policy.
The educational burden was added to by the decision to make Arabic the official language of
administration, science and in every sphere of national activity. (National Charter (1976)). One positive result of the new training programme, however, has been that the
number of monitors has been decreased through their
absorption into the teaching profession, by means of this one year training course. (Ministry of Education (1976/77)).
2. The growth in pupil numbers and its consequences 1962 was the year in which the Algerian people achieved independence, and it was government policy that all children of school age should find places within schools. There was a scarcity of qualified people in all spheres as well as a high rate of illiteracy as a result of French Colonial policy. In this less than 20% of
Algerian children had received educaton. (Ministry of
Education (1974/75)). Further, the Algerian economy during
1962/67 period was not sufficiently developed to provide
for the numbers of pupils, and foreign help was needed by
industrial sectors; areas of engineering, architecture and construction being especially in very short supply.
In another step to meet the shortage, the Algerian government through Ministerial Order of 23rd September 1965 closed all Infant schools and reclassified them into Primary schools so as to help meet the shortage of
Primary school places. The National Defence Ministry also helped by transferring a number of armed forces bases to the Ministry of Education, thus not only providing the initial buildings for Oran University but also providing extra Primary and Secondary schools throughout Algeria.
Even this provision, however, still proved inadequate. To help solve this problem, the Ministry of Education
introduced a double shift system so as to decrease
temporarily the pressure on the school building programm
e. (Ministry of Education (1967)). Table 1.5 illustrates
the increase in the numbers of pupils at the Primary
level.
1963-64 1,039,435 134 398,130 141 640,564 129
1964-65 1,215,037 156 463,130 164 751,907 152
1965-66 1,332,203 171 504,552 178 827,651 167
1966-67 1,370,357 176 513,155 181 857,242 173
1967-68 1,461,776 188 544,776 193 917,000 185
1968-69 1,551,489 190 575,370 203 976,110 197
1969-70 1,689,023 217 630,870 223 1,058,135 214
1970-71 1,851,416 238 700,924 248 1,115,492 232
1971-72 2,018,091 259 771,516 272 1,246,575 252
1972-73 2,206,893 284 855,031 302 1,351,862 273
1973-74 2,376,344 305 928,134 328 1,448,201 292
2. Once independence was gained many people returned to the towns where there was employment and facilities for educating their children, thus overstraining the urban facilities.
3. As part of the new policy of Algerianization,
compulsory education was introduced. The purpose behind this was to eradicate illiteracy and to educate all Algerian children without discrimination with regard to place of residence.
4. There is a high birth rate, which equally affected the economy and the whole building programme. In 1962/63, when the number of pupils was 777,636, the government had neither enough teachers nor enough classrooms and although 7,000 monitors were recruited, they did not meet the gap created by the departure of 16,000 French teachers from the
different sectors who left the country at the beginning of the school year 1962/63. (Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (1972/73)). Another problem was that many
qualified Algerian teachers were attracted by the conditions of service offered by various national companies, so that many of them left their posts for such facilities as, free accommodation, transport, and high salaries. The Ministry of Education was unable to match these. Further, unmarried
Algerian women teachers stopped teaching after getting
married because they preferred to stay at home to
look after their children, especially in the absence of an adequate supply of nursery schools in which to place their children. This practice has continued, so that it is little wonder that the problem of staff shortage is still unsolved, especially at the Middle and Secondary levels. El-Moudjahid (1972).
Although the recruitment of monitors as teachers was not really welcomed because of their lack of general education, it became a necessity through historical
circumstances, and this has affected the quality of the school output. (A.Taleb (1962/72)). In this case, it can be said that the efforts of the authorities in the Ministry of Education put emphasis on quantity and, although this now means that all Primary teachers are Algerian, there is still a need to employ foreign teachers in the Middle and Secondary levels, where Algerian teachers provide 55% and 25% of staff respectively. At these levels, the shortage of Algerian teachers is particularly acute in science
subjects. (Ministry of Education (1973/74)). The rapid increase in the number of pupils at these levels has also been an important factor in creating the shortage of
teachers. Table 1.6 illustrates the increase of pupil
numbers in these two levels.
1964-65 100,082 190 28,703 201 71,379 193
1965-66 125,010 200 36,622 256 88,388 239
1966-67 135,336 265 38,854 263 96,482 262
1967-68 148,744 290 41,014 294 106,830 290
1968-69 166,737 327 46,758 329 119,979 325
1969-70 198,836 390 55,194 387 143,642 390
1970-71 236,884 464 66,370 466 170,514 462
1971-72 287,700 564 83,084 583 204,616 555
3. Shortages in the school building programme
At the Primary level, the year 1964/65 saw the inauguration of an important school building programme throughout the country, but directed especially to rural areas which were in greater need than the urban. This
project included 800 primary schools, each containing three classrooms, two flats for teachers and one classroom for different activities. In addition to the above project, another provided 295 classrooms to be available by January 1968. At the Secondary level the schools have been mainly newly built with some being re-built or renovated. The
1964/68 plan provided for 12 Secondary schools for 1,000 to 1,500 pupils to be completed for the 1969 school year. In higher education, before independence there was only one university in Algiers , and most of the students were French.
The government, to overcome this problem, sanctioned the construction of two new universities, one in Oran and the other in Constantine. These
universities were to be well equipped and furnished with modern equipment and to have students' accommodation and restaurants. (Ministry of Education (1967)). Table 1.8 gives the school building programmes for the three stages:
Primary, Middle and Secondary.
1966-67 26.003 ii , 486 "
1967-68 26.448 u 527 "
1968-69 28.759 u , 565 "
1969-70 31.000 u 585 "
1970-71 33.200 ul 613 "
1971-72 33.802 u 667 "
1972-73 36.277 681 "
1973-74 38.865 it 670 "
1974-75 43.349 u 670 "
units and 800 multi-purpose rooms by 1968,(Ministry of Education (1968)), and to this must be added the extra places created by the double shift system. However, the school building problem is still not solved. For instance, in the Government's First Four Year Plan 1970/73, which gave priority to school building programmes, there were 144 Middle schools with 84,200 places not completed and left to be completed in the Second Four Year Plan 1974/77.
The same happened at the Secondary level: 49 schools expected to be finished at the end of the First Four Year Plan 1970/73, with 47,000 places, were carried over to the next plan 1974/77, (Ministry of Education (1976)). Because of this delay in the school building programme, the
Algerian government, through Ordinance No.68.9 of
January 23rd (1968) introduced a new procedure for school building, by giving the responsibility for Primary
education building to the communes, with Middle and
Secondary levels being left to the Departments 'WILAYAT', whilst the universities became the Ministry of Public
General Social Activities' responsibility, thus introducing decentralization. The present Minister of Education in an interview with El Moudjohid in September 1979, said that
"the problem of school shortages is a big question, this is because the speed of construction and equipment supply
is not keeping pace with demographic evolution in our country."
He indicated that this phenomenon must be given greater attention by all concerned agencies and establishments in order to bridge the gap between actuality and needs. The scarcity of accommodation for teachers, for example, is one reason why foreign teachers so often leave before the end of their contracts. Too often the accommodation given to teachers, both foreign and Algerian, is situated far from the schools in which they teach, so that they have difficulty in reaching their schools because transport facilities are limited. (El Moudjahid (1979)).
4. Students' guidance
It was difficult, in the early days of
independence, to direct students to enter the types of courses needed for social and economic development. Most, in the absence of professional guidance, continued to opt for humanities or social sciences. Zamouri, M. (1973) in his speech to inspectors and educational advisers on 25th March 1973, declared that Counsellors trained to offer this guidance were too few, and those that there were available were attached to the Ministry of Planning for statistical work instead of working in schools and guiding students into the branches of study needed for the
Country's development and suited to their abilities. One reason for this lack of interest in scientific and
professional study was the system of education inherited
which was unsuited for Algeria's development. The
authorities soon realized that a radical reform was needed because "the educational apparatus bequeathed to us is incapable of meeting, either qualitatively or
quantitatively, our present and future needs". (Ministry of Information and Culture (1973), p.9)..
In 1966/67 there were only nine Counsellors with a degree in guidance. This group introduced a number of measures to help pupils, teachers and parents. In
1967/68 intelligence tests were administered to final forms in Primary, Middle and Secondary schools, so that advice could be given to students about the future
direction of their studies. In addition, a central office distributed, in a monthly review, information about the range of studies available. (Ministry of Education (1967/
68)). The Ministry of Education mounted a strong campaign aimed at teachers and national companies, to help to
encourage 3rd and 6th form students in Middle and Secondary schools to undertake needed technical and
professional courses of study. In addition, technical and professional education were given greater priority by the government.(A.Taleb (1962/72)). As the Algerian President Boumedienne, said
"Our country is in need of thousands
of national cadres for the promotion
of agriculture and building of industry, and so as to obviate the need for
foreign cadres. Algerians must be
capable of replacing these guests, for however worthy these efforts, they
cannot be compared to those of Algerian cadres. This goal can only be obtained through a radical reform of the teaching system, a real revolution which must be embarked upon immediately for it is an urgent necessity."
In Higher Education (1973), p.9.
As a result, students studying technical and professional subjects are given a higher grant than those studying the academic subjects. The mass media also
played an important part in the success of the campaign.
The present Minister of Educaton, Mohamed Kheroubi, said
"It is not in the interests of development for our
productive units to lack skilled people, while there is inflation in higher education". (El Moudjahid (1979)). He went on to say that it was essential to have coordination between the needs of national companies for skilled
personnel and the educational plans in order to harmonize
the goals of the Ministry of Education with those of the
nation for the government believed that any development
of quality must be well built upon the basis of qualified
and skilled Algerians. (National Charter 1976.) The
situation was acute because the numbers of students
entering technical education had been few compared with
those in academic branches. Thus, in 1964, the number of
students in technical education was 29,703, whh'h a
increased to 55,618, but this was still less than Secondary general education which had 85,005 students. (Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (1967).
5. Lack of qualified teachers
In a period of rapid increase of the educational system, it has been impossible to obtain a sufficient
number of qualified teachers, due to the introduction of Arabization and the democratization of education. Another reason for the poor quantity and quality of teaching was a result of the government's inability to provide for the whole range of national education without foreign aid. The demand for teachers has been, in fact, always in excess of the number of teachers provided by the Institutes of
Technology for Education. The urgent measures taken by the government for filling gaps and needs of Middle and
Secondary schools were exemplified in the employment of Primary school teachers to act as specialist teachers in these two higher levels. This shortage has not yet been overcome and is expected to continue in the foreseeable future. To a casual observer, it might appear easy to provide a sufficient number of teachers for all levels, but when it comes to the actual recruitment, it becomes very difficult to obtain teachers, especially at the
Middle and Secondary levels. Hence, the monitorial system
was imposed by necessity, not choice. Further,
as A.Taleb, ex-Minister of Education, in his Report of August (1966) noted, it was easier to train monitors to teach in French than in Arabic, and further, there were enough Algerian qualified teachers to teach in French. This shortage of Arabic medium teachers necessitated
arrangements being made with various other Arab countries, especially for teachers and other aid personnel, but at times these countries refused some or all of these
requests. (Ministry of Education (1972/73)).
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CHAPTER TWO
DEVELOPMENTS IN TEACHER EDUCATION TO MEET GENERAL EDUCATION POLICY
CONTENTS
1. The effects of educational planning on teacher development and school programme building.
2. Entrance qualifications for student teachers in ' Normal Colleges' for Education (traditional system) .
3. Entrance requirementsfor the Institutes of Technology for Educaton.
4. The increase of the number of teachers from the Institutes of Technology.
5. Qua titative weaknesses in teacher training and its effects on teachers' standards.
6. The need for new schools.
7. Delays in the completion in the school buildings.
8. Budget for the development of Education.
development and school building programme
The establishment of new institutions for
teacher training and transformation of 'Normal Colleges' into Institutes of Technology for Education resulted from Ordinance No.70.115, 1st August (1970), designed to overcome the acute shortage of teachers throughout the whole system. It was also a first step towards the
planned educational reform growing out of both the pressure of increasing student numbers and of the need for manpower in the industrial and agricultural fields. At the time of the introduction of the First Four Year Plan 1970-73, most spheres of national activities were in desperate need of qualified personnel, especially education, because of the introduction of compulsory education. (El Moudjahid (1979)) .
The Development Plan of 1970/73 was designed to provide school places for both pupils and teachers. This necessitated the building of new schools and institutions for teacher training. As result of the plan the admission rate of children rose to 90% of the possible total and education was spread to all regions in the country.
However, the problem of the raising of the compulsory
school leaving age from 13/14 to 15/16 years of age, still
remained. This was considered necessary because the skills
and knowledge gained in the six years of education were not sufficient for the school leavers to meet the
practical demands of life. Further, at that time the proportion of children proceeding from Primary to Middle school was small, being some 40%. By 1977 the rate of transfer to the middle school had risen to 80%, while the percentage of pupils from Middle schools proceeding to secondary schools had reached 60%. (Ministry of
Education (1977/78)). This policy, however, resulted in overcrowded classrooms, and classes in excess of 50
pupils. To help with the problem in part, the Ministry of Education introduced a double shift system. (Ministry of Education (1970)). The government also realized that there were too few teachers to achieve the goals of a democratic education system, since the traditional '
Normal Colleges' did not meet the needs of the new system
because such colleges were not designed to serve the new
Algerian goals. In order to overcome this problem, the
Ministry of Education transformed the 'Normal Colleges'
into Institutes of Technology for Education and the
amount of 200 million AD was devoted to the development
of such Institutes. (Ministry of Education (1970).) Table
2.1 gives the number of these Institutes of Technology
for Education.
for Middle education
teachers were free to leave or to continue teaching.
During training, student teachers were paid a full
monthly salary. This system was designed rather to meet the needs of the French colonials, because Algerian children represented only 8% of those attending primary schools. (Ministry of Education (1974/75)). Further, the numbers graduating from the 'Normal Colleges' was limited to 200 teachers a year, which filled the staffing
requirement. (A. Ben Mohamed (1973)). The qualifications of these teachers were highly regarded, as was the
quality of their teaching, but the numbers did not meet the expanding needs of the educational system of newly independent Algeria. As the admission rate reached 90% of the total population, it became necessary for the
government to change this system of training. The
Institutes of Technology for Education were the Ministry' s answer. (Ministry of Education (1974/77)).
3. Entrance requirements for the Institutes of Technology for Education
The government felt it necessary to reduce the entrance qualifications for two reasons: First to meet the large number of teachers required, and secondly
because the government wanted to ensure that the trainees
would not leave teaching in order to work in National
Companies where they could find better working conditions
trained at 'Normal Colleges' who, possessing high
qualifications, often left for better salaries. The length of the training course was also reduced to one year with the entrance qualification of 'B.E.G.' or its equivalent for teachers in Primary education. Those who wished to be specialist teachers were still required to have the
Baccalaureat or its equivalent. (Ministry of Education ( 1977)). It was subsequently found that many student
teachers who possessed the Baccalaureat taught only for a short period of time, then left teaching. To reduce this outflow, the Ministry of Education raised the contract period for such teachers from three years to seven years and increased the salary to 350 AD approximately, an equivalent of 40 pounds a month. (Eldjeich (1972)).
4. The increase of the number of teachers from the Institutes of Technology
Through the reduced length of training it was possible to increase the number of teachers each year.
Today the system produces 5,000 teachers for Primary
education annually and 2,500 for the Middle education
level. This has enabled the government to decrease the
number of foreign teachers at Primary schools to 6%. (
Ministry of Education (1975/76)). Table 2.2 illustrates
the growth in the number of trained teachers, due to the
Secondary
education 2,542 3,250 4,085 4,855 5,412 6,537
TOTAL 73,067 79,969 85,595 90,610 96,786 104,906
Tunisia 87 - 46 46 41
France 1180 30 513 .543 637
TOTAL 1617 34 719 753 864
551
France 1,326 - 211 211 1,115
England 158 35 - 35 123
2,184 78 317 395 1,789
interview with National Journalists on the 14th September 1979 that
"We have Algerianized the staff in Primary education, because graduate teachers from the Institutes of
Technology are now enough, but it is difficult to Algerianize at the present moment the staff teaching at Middle and Secondary education levels.
We are not self-sufficient in Algerian teachers especially in the scientific and technical branches."
El Moudjahid (1979) .
As the Minister has made clear, the need for foreign
teachers is because of the continuing shortage of Algerian teachers. As a response to the urgent need for teachers at these levels, both the Higher School for teachers and
Universities as early as in 1970, reduced the duration of
studies from four years to three years in certain branches
in which there were and are great shortages. These included
mathematics, natural sciences, physics and chemistry and
the like. On the other hand, the length of study in the
Social Sciences was increased to four years because the
demand for such personnel was not as urgent. (Ministry of
Higher Education (1971)). The reduction of the time for
teacher preparation has not affected the curriculum content
adversely as far as teaching is concerned, because it has
enabled certain elements irrelevant to education to be
eliminated. (Ministry of Information (1973)).
Middle 2.61.000 2.93.000 3.28.000 3.84.000 4.67.000 5.65.00(
Secondary 53.000 66.000 84.000 1.01.000 1.13.000 1.33.00(
TOTAL 2.520.000 2.717.000 2.899.000 3.046.000 3.222.000 3.415.0(
rate, including its impact on the state. This it is doing by engaging in a systematic campaign through the mass
media, to bring to the people's notice the need to decrease this high birth rate which currently is at about 3.5%.
5. Quantitative weaknesses in teacher training and its effects on teachers
The provision of Algerian teachers in the first stage of independence was inadequate, because the number of Algerian teachers were too few. Further, well qualified personnel did not wish to work as teachers, because they could earn better salaries with better conditions of service elsewhere and, further, there had been no strong policy on the part of government to attract such people to work in the educational field. As a result, those entering teaching usually had minimum qualifications, especially between 1962 and 1970. Nor could the government
realistically be expected to have better trained qualified teachers. (A. Ben Mohamed (1975/76)). Thus, teachers tended to be recruited only from those who possessed the lowest educational qualifications and who could not find
employment in other sectors.
Taylor has suggested certain factors which need
to be taken into account by any government which wants to
have a successful educational system. These factors include
a properly directed policy with "adequate finance for staff, buildings, equipment and services and well trained professional cadres." (Inaugural Lecture, Professor A.
Taylor, University College, Cardiff on 12th May (1969), p.
5). It is true, when the government provides an adequate salary, together with other facilities, that staff may be more willing to work in a more dedicated manner to improve the situation in the educational system and so help meet the needs of the society, but there is still the need for proper professional preparation. In this, the writer feels that there are three stages through which Algerian
teachers have passed. From 1962 to 1968 teachers were not well prepared, for the teachers' standard of knowledge and skills was not at an adequate level for the task-heyhad to perform. In the second stage, from 1969 to the end of the First Four Year Plan 1970/73, the general level of teacher preparation was improved and their quality became more acceptable. In the third stage, from the beginning of the Second Plan 1974/77, the government has emphasised a
higher skill level of professional training for teachers.
(A. Ben Mohamed (1974)). Initially, Algerian teachers fitted into the first of the four stages suggested by Beeby in The Quality of Education in Developing Countries (1968). In order to overcome this poorly qualified teacher problem, the Algerian government provided a series of
three Four Year Plans in 1970 and due to be completed in
1985. By then it hoped that the quality level will be well through stage two and entering stage three. In addition, in certain specialist areas the problem will be eased as
selected students have been sent abroad for special training. (Ahmed Taleb (1962/72)). Lately, the Algerian government has felt that unqualified teachers must be encouraged to study in the evening courses at the
universities and at other centres throughout the country.
The scheme is that after three years of study they will gain a Baccalaureat qualification through an official examination. Once this is gained, such teachers are then encouraged by the government to study further on a full time basis at the Higher School of 'El Kouba' in order to get a B.A. or B.A.'s 'Licence' degree so as to be qualified to teach at the Secondary level. While attached to this school, they will receive their complete salary and have to sign a seven year contract. Those teachers who ceased study at the Baccalaureat level and 'B.E.G.' ('O-level') are
regarded as being qualified to teach in both Middle and Primary education after one year of training in an
Institute of Technology for Education. (Ministry of Higher Education (1971)). As an additional incentive, the
government has instituted a comparative study of the
relationship between teachers' salaries and those working
in administration and National Companies. The reasons for
this are first to equate salaries according to the
qualifications of the individual, and second to encourage well qualified candidates to work in the education sector.
However, the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education said in September (1979) that the extension of the
duration of teacher training at the present moment is
not possible so that further progress is limited and that this is due to the fact that if the number of pupils is
reduced from 50 per classroom to 40 or 30, for example,
and at the same time the duration of training is extended to two years, then there will be a greater shortage of staff than before. In this situation, therefore, the extension of the duration for teacher training must wait, maybe until the end of the three Four Year Plans in 1985 when the
birth rate, according to the forecasts of the government will have settled down and the development of the supply of Algerian teachers have reached the stage where the Algerianization of the system will have been achieved.
It has been said that 'the restructuring and development of education in our country are possible only because the state has made the necessary financial effort'.
(Ministry of Information and Culture (1973), p.59).
However, as the author has indicated, it seems that the
financial aspect is not the only important element, for
without qualified personnel, finance alone cannot solve the
problem and even assistance from other countries can only
room problem situation is deprecated by teachers for they know that they cannot produce good quality students under such conditions, for the results show large number of
pupils fail, many lapsing into illiteracy and constituting a great problem in society because they cannot find
employment. (State Secretary for Planning (1975)). For these reasons, the government has given priority to the school building programme. 16,000 classes and 800 units for teachers were provided in the first Four Year Plan 1970/73, at the Primary education level. For Middle and Secondary education 97 schools with 91,000 were also planned. Unfortunately, the programme was not completely achieved because there were delays in construction. ( Ministry of Education (1974/75)).
7. Delays in the completion of the school buildings The problem of delays in completing programmes has directly influenced educational planning and its goals. For instance, although it was planned to have a rapid increase in the number of school buildings which were to be finished by the end of the first Four Year Plan 1970/73, the number finished at the Middle and Secondary levels was only 55% of the total. This delay has deprived many children of education. Table 2.7
indicates the achievement in the school building programm
e at the Middle and Secondary levels during the period of
the first Four Year Plan 1970/73.
Batna 13 9,200 13 9,200 100 Constantine 25 ( 15,850 10 6,500 41.15
El-Asnam 11 7,000 1 600 8.5
Medea 20 12,600 10 7,000 55.5
Mostaghanam 9 4,700 6 2,900 61.7
Oran 1 14 7,300 3 1,200 16.3
Oasis 6 3,500 2 700 20
Saoura 5 2,100 1 500 23.8
Saida 2 1,100 2 1,100 100
Setif 11 7,300 9 6,100 83.5
Tiaret 7 4,300 2 1,500 34.3
Tiziouzou 21 13,700 18 12,700 92.7
Telemlen 4 1,600 3 1,300 76.4
Algeria 204 120,250 106 66,300 55.13
Plan 1970/73, but only 11,597 classes were built and 503 classes were left to be completed in the next plan.
This delay deprived a large number of pupils of school age from having any access to education. Further, these delays in completing the school building programme caused many classrooms to become overcrowded. As a result, the
government decided to give greater priority in the second and the third Four Year Plan31974/85, and decided to
provide 7,000 classes and 7,000 accommodation places for teachers with an extra project of 1,500 classes and 1,500 accommodation places in Primary education intended to off- set the original disparity in the country. (Ministry of Education (1976), p.14). The latest Report for 1979/80 indicates that the number of classrooms has been
increased to 56,000, but there is still a shortfall of 10,000.
At the Middle school level it was expected to have 164 new establishments by the end of December 1978;
unfortunately, this target has been postponed until
December 1979. At the Secondary level 49 establishments were not completed in time and this resulted in 16 Middle schools being used as Secondary schools in order to allow the passage of 55% of pupils from the Middle to the
Secondary level. (Ministry of Education (1979/80)). From
the above, one might say that educational planning in
the Algerian government has been characterized by an
effort to execute an appropriate policy of democratization, but the delays in completing the school building
programme have hindered its achievement. This is especially so in such sectors as: pre-schools and special schools for the handicapped whose needs have almost entirely been ignored as a result of the shortage of schools in general. Pre-primary education, for
example, was abolished by a Ministerial Decree of September 23rd 1968 and these schools transformed into Primary schools, because of the great shortage in this sector. However, nursery schools have again become an issue, especially with the growing numbers of Algerian women entering employment. These working women have now a requirement for such schools, for they need places where they can keep their children. This problem has been given to the Ministry of Education 'to develop the syllabuses, train teachers and supervise nursery schools and
kindergartens. With this in view, the Ministry of Education will call upon firms, organized groups and secions of administration to finance schools'. (Ministry of Education (1976), p.16).
As yet, however, little has been achieved at
this level not only through shortage of buildings, but
also through lack of suitably trained teachers. If the
government wishes to retain women in employment it will need to give more priority to this sector or many women will be forced to resign and so slow down the development of the economy. (El-Deich (1972)). The same is true of education for handicapped children which has also been held at a low level of development, there being only two schools in the country. Recently, the government decided to create an unspecified number of special schools for handicapped children to be initiated in the 2nd year of the second Four Year Plan 1974/77. The schools were to be given financial support and specially trained
personnel to ensure an appropriate education for such children. (Ministry of Education (1976/77)).
This overall shortfall in the school building programme has been due to the pressure of three
revolutions in one: cultural, industrial and agricultural.
Each of the three revolutions was intended to be
developed through a series of three Four Year Plans 1970-
85. However, the problem has been not so much how to
finance the development of these revolutions, but rather
how to develop suitably trained cadres of personnel to
conduct these revolutions. To meet this need, the
Algerian government is trying to provide appropriate
personnel from a wide variety of disciplines through
an intensive educational programme.
1967 680,000,000 240,000,000 9.5 26 19.5
1968 745,000,000 384,000,000 9.5 60 21.05
1969 850,000,000 614,000,000 14.5 59.9 21.08
1970 980,000,000 654,000,000 15.29 6.5 22.03
Percentage % 31.3 31.8 30.9 23.4 23.9 Equipment
Budget of the
State 2.254.2 2.831.9 3.714.3 4.002.4 5.412.3 National
Education 658.1 668.0 863.8 951.3 1.129.5
Percentage % 29.2 23.6 23.2 23.8 20.9
Total budget
of the State 6.941.0 8.196.5 9.988.5 13.498.6 17.756.5 National
Education 12.127.1 2.375.7 2.801.5 3.182.3 4.080.5
Percentage % 30.6 29 28 23.6 23
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CHAPTER THREE
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE RESTRUCTURING OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
1. The Middle Polytechnic Fundamental School and its role in teaching and industrial development.
a. Background of the present educational system and its defects (Primary, Middle, Secondary and University).
2. Disadvantages of the present educational system.
3. Recent reforms in education prior to adopting the Middle Polytechnic Fundamental School as a basic reform.
4. The Middle Polytechnic Fundamental School.
5. Qualifications provided by 'M.P.F.S.' 6. The growing need for teachers.
7. Needs for new schools and equipment. 8..
Difficulties caused by the uneven distribution
A