60 Years of Higher Education in Algeria: Achievements, Challenges and Opportunities

LSE Middle East Centre Podcasts

The Algerian Higher Education system has evolved significantly over the past six decades, responding to the changing economic and political contexts of the country. After inheriting the French colonial education system in the sixties with minor adjustments, the seventies saw a democratisation of the space. During the eighties, the role of the single national party was affirmed with a marked Arabization of the social sciences and the establishment of several universities across the country. But from the eighties onwards, there was also a loss of autonomy and independence of the university, with increased centralisation of management by the Ministry of Higher Education, and academic leadership positions being filled by administrators. As a result, scientific research, creative innovation, and emergence of new ideas at all levels declined significantly. This loss of autonomy resulted in the migration of academics and graduates abroad. Today, the Algerian higher education system has over 1.7 million students and over 130 Higher Education Institutions, compared to 55,000 students in 1980 and 3000 in 1963, and less than 10 Higher Education Institutions in 1963. This webinar will discuss current challenges and future opportunities across the higher education system in Algeria, with an emphasis on its historical background, evolution, and broader societal role since independence. Mounir Khaled Berrah is a professor and author with interests in higher education, research development and innovation systems, international cooperation in science, technology and innovation, statistical information systems and digital transition. Berrah was Director of the Ecole Nationale Polytechnique in Algeria from 1997 - 2005. He was also Director General of the National Statistics Office in Algeria from 2009 - 2020. Hayat Messekher is Professor of English at the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Bouzaréah (Algiers) where she teaches pre-service teacher-trainees. She previously served as Head of the English Department. She also serves as a Consultant for British Council Algeria where she manages the portfolio of education and society programmes. Mohamed Miliani is Professor of English at the University of Oran 2, Algeria. He specialises in education, Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), and English for Specific Purposes (ESP). He is research project lead in university ethics at the Centre for Research in Cultural and Social Anthropology (CRASC). He also serves as president of the Algerian Technical Committee for Education (UNESCO-Algeria). Khaoula Taleb-Ibrahimi is Professor of Sciences of Languages and Director of the Linguistics, Sociolinguistics and Didactics of Languages (LISODIL) Research Laboratory at the University of Algiers II. Taleb-Ibrahimi defended and obtained her PhD on the sciences of languages at the University of Grenoble, France in 1991. She has taught linguistics, didactics, discourse analysis, language policy, textual linguistics and sociolinguistics.