Scientific event

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?