The education minister promises to find ways to ease the problem of overcrowded classes.
By Fidet Mansour for Magharebia in Algiers
[Fidet Mansour] The Algerian government plans to build eight new secondary schools to alleviate class overcrowding in some provinces.
More than eight million Algerian pupils started the new school year on Sunday (September 9th). About 700,000 of them went to school for the first time.
But excitement blended with concern for many, as schools cope with the problem of overcrowding and fears of fresh strikes.
In the provinces of Biskra, Blida, Tiaret, Algiers, Djelfa, Jijel, Ain Defla and Tebessa, classes are over-packed, which affects teaching quality and academic performance.
The government promised to take action to alleviate the problem.
“Together with the governors of the regions where class sizes are too large, we will consider ways of finalising the building of eight state secondary schools within three months,” National Education Minister Abdellatif Baba Ahmed told APS on Sunday. “Pending completion of these facilities, ways of mitigating the effects will be found jointly with education chiefs in the provinces affected by overcrowding, especially in state secondary schools.”
Just before pupils began to arrive for classes, Magharebia met with teachers at the Kasdi Merbah secondary school in Algiers. Many of them complained how difficult it is to get their point across in oversized classes.
“For the fifth year in a row, we’re teaching classes with more than 40 pupils, whereas the target is 28 pupils per class,” said Ibrahim, a French teacher.
Parents share their concerns. Some have to enrol their kids in remedial classes, because they take in very little of what is taught in classes.
Tensions were also heightened at the beginning of the school year after teachers’ unions threatened to go on strike. They demand the second instalment of back pay on the date agreed on between the government and the unions. Their back pay was originally due to be paid in July, but it was pushed back to September.
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While some educators abandoned their plans to strike, those affiliated with the National Union of Communal and Professional Workers of Education plan to walk out September 16th-18th to air their grievances.
In a statement released on September 8th, the union demanded “a review of their status and their pay as approved by the cabinet in February 2012 and inclusion of these professions within the education sector”. It also called for “the level of performance bonuses to be standardised at 40% instead of 30%, a rise in base pay for workers and a southern bonus.”
Meanwhile, the government has allocated 50 billion dinars for helping pupils from poor families. This help will include the provision of free school equipment, satchels and aprons, as well as child benefits for children enrolled in school.
Three million schoolchildren from poor families will receive 3,000 dinars, while four million will benefit from free school textbooks.
Algeria Education
