The University and Its Stakeholders

The fundamental texts governing higher education in Algeria are the 1971 reform and the Higher Education Orientation Law of 1998. Other texts include the university standard statute of 1983, amended in 1990, the creation of university academies in 1995, the establishment of the University of Continuing Education in 1990, and regulations governing postgraduate studies and research in 1998 and 1999.

The first observation concerns the multiplication of decision-making levels, which generates excessive bureaucracy and slow decision chains. Other negative effects are linked to the absence of implementing decrees for certain measures, the non-application of some regulations, or the existence of ministerial circulars contradicting other legal texts.

Access conditions to higher education have undergone numerous changes and are often communicated to students at the last moment, complicating academic orientation and partly explaining high repetition and dropout rates during the first university year.

The structuring of higher education raises the issue of post-basic education

organisation, particularly pre-university education, especially regarding the timing of specialisation and the transition from secondary to higher education. The existence of short academic cycles does not solve the strategic problem of regulating student flows, as the status, credibility and career prospects of these cycles remain unclear to students and their families.

The current system includes universities, grandes écoles, university centres, national institutes, research centres, research units and the National University Services Office. Pedagogical organisational structures include departments, faculties, university committees, scientific councils, and regional and national university conferences.

Continuing education universities offer opportunities for workers and students who have failed in their studies to obtain higher diplomas through short programmes. Analysis of university enrolment over more than a decade shows that university intake mainly focuses on high school graduates. This intake has passed through three phases:

A flow regulation phase during the 1970s when students were distributed across multiple fields to meet socio-economic needs.An orientation phase during the 1980s with increasing student numbers and limited diversification of study programmes, using computer-based orientation systems.A flow redistribution phase aimed at preserving social stability by lowering entry grade requirements and introducing common core curricula.

The lack of coherent institutional policy has led to dysfunction within universities, with students adopting strategies aimed at minimising effort and maximising academic returns. The diploma has lost its intellectual value and is increasingly perceived as a utilitarian instrument.

The university system may also appear infantilising, offering limited opportunities for part-time work. Previous research suggests three main findings: unemployment structures students’ future projects, particularly migration abroad; instrumental relations to knowledge and diplomas; and limited cultural life outside their social environment