Scientific event

Current debates on education in Algeria
Current debates on education in Algeria
Type
Debates
date
16/02/2017
heure
14:00
lieu
CRASC
Anthropology of Education and Training Systems Division
Theme :
The School and Its Stakeholders
Keywords :
Algeria school
Concept note
The quality of the educational system has remained at the center of debates since the 2003 reform. This quality is increasingly being established as a requirement for schools in Algeria. In 2000, UNICEF proposed a definition of quality structured around five characteristics: “healthy and motivated learners, a safe, protective and adequately resourced environment, appropriate educational programs, child-centered teaching approaches, and finally results consistent with national objectives.” The global report (2005, 2015, 2016) on monitoring Education for All, emphasizing the systemic nature of education, defines two indicators of quality: the academic success of all students and the promotion of values inherent to citizenship and to the overall development of the child’s personality.

Society as a whole is called upon to make these two indicators a fundamental principle: a principle that replaces the paradigm of “democratization of schooling” with a new paradigm of “democratization of success for all.” When some media outlets address the issue of schooling in Algeria, two themes are frequently discussed: “its quality” and “the impact of reforms,” with, no doubt, the underlying idea that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between the two: “if the challenge of quality has not been met, it is because successive reforms have failed.” What is actually the case? This question fuels debates in the public sphere. The overhaul of pedagogy and curricula, or what is believed to be known about it, is hotly debated by school actors and citizens, often in exchanges that mix scientific arguments with personal opinions. What perspectives do social science researchers have on these issues?
Participants
Djilali EL MESTARI
Djilali EL MESTARI
intervenant
Biography
Dr. Djilali ELMESTARI is a Principal Research Associate at the Centre of Research in Social and Cultural Anthropology/ CRASC (Oran, Algeria). He holds a habilitation and a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion from the University of Oran. He held the position of Director of the Centre of Research in Social and Cultural Anthropology (2017- 2021), and the position of Director General of the National Institute for Research in Education/ INRE, Algeria (2016-2017).
El Mestari’s area of interest includes themes related to religious discourse, education and citizenship, and community issues.
He has participated in several international and national projects, including two ongoingresearch projects conducted by the CRASC: “The Production of Religious Knowledge in Official Religious Institutions: case of the University of Religious Sciences in Constantine” and “Textbooks of School Subjects Related to Social Sciences and Humanities (1963-2020)”.
In the last two years, he has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Padua, Italy: The International Master in Religion, Politics and Global Society.
Among his most important and recent scientific production:
- 2022. Coordinator with Khalid Rhazzali and Dafne Accoroni (from Italy) of the 95/96 issues of Insaniyat Journal on "Socioanthropology of Religion in the Mediterranean Region"
- 2022. Co-editor with Soraya Mouloudji of the collective book “Society and the Pandemic”,
Publisher: CRASC.
In addition to three research papers addressing themes of religious and educational discourse in Algeria:
- 2022. Co-author of “Youth and the Discourse of Religious Referents in Algeria. Results of Field Surveys”. Insaniyat, Part 1, No. 95
- 2022. “The Institutionalized Religious Discourse During the First Period of the Pandemic in Algeria”. Society and the Pandemic
- 2021. The Second Generation of Islamic Education Textbooks in Algeria: Contents and Challenges. Published by the Higher Islamic Council
Mina TOUNSSI
Mina TOUNSSI
intervenant
Biography
Inspector of Education and a member of the National Curriculum Council since December 2021. She previously served as Head of the Documentation and Database Department at the National Institute for Educational Research (INRE) from 1994 to 2003. Between 2002 and 2016, she was a member of the French Specialized Subject Group (GSD), contributing to the development of school curricula under the auspices of the National Curriculum Commission. She is also the author of several textbooks and extracurricular educational materials.
Cherifa GHETTAS
Cherifa GHETTAS
intervenant
Fouad NOUAR
Fouad NOUAR
moderateur