International Agreements And Partnerships

The Project
Long characterized by strong centralization, the higher education system in Algeria has gradually begun to adapt to new requirements, particularly in terms of quality assurance, and to establish a framework conducive to greater university accountability.
As early as 2008, during the National Higher Education Conference, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MESRS) adopted a series of measures making the modernization of higher education in Algeria a priority. Indeed, it became clear that to best fulfill their educational and scientific missions, universities needed to adapt their organization and operations. The two main pillars upon which modernization was to be based, and which were highlighted during these conferences, are governance and evaluation. For the latter, the implementation of a quality assurance system proved necessary. This led to the creation of: i) the National Commission for the Implementation of Quality in Algerian Higher Education (CIAQES); ii) the National Evaluation Commission; and iii) quality units in all higher education institutions.

As a result, evaluation and governance were placed at the heart of the priorities of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and at the heart of the Algerian-European program for the modernization of higher education, PAPS-ESRS (Program to Support Sectoral Policy).

The definition of these institutional projects was declared a priority by the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation (MESRS), which had developed a framework for developing an institutional project (MESRS, General Inspectorate of Pedagogy, 2017).

For four years, ESAGOV participated in this reform, strengthening the quality assurance approach in Algerian universities and supporting them in the process of revising their institutional projects through rigorous operational support, inspired by European best practices and based on a participatory approach.

The specific objectives of the ESAGOV project were as follows:

• Strengthening the role of universities in defining their own missions, essential for pursuing the process of empowerment through the development of an institutional project specific to each university, resulting from a consultation process among all stakeholders in university life and reflecting its particularities, specializations, and areas of excellence;
• Strengthening the strategic skills of university leaders and academic and administrative staff;
• Strengthening the evaluation system and the quality approach within institutions, in particular by bringing together the quality assurance and pedagogical training units.