People in our country make fun of these teachers who educate their children and the TV channels keep harassing them in every occasion keeping all the boundless excesses to attain an intolerable plight via authorities’ either silence or involvement. People, however, cannot be deprived to wonder about the decline of our school, the students’ worsening level of study and also blame or accuse. They are right to condemn the performance of the authorities in charge of this sector as, at a high degree, the graduate students from universities with diplomas that worth to be a record but never a testimony to a high-quality level or evidence for fair success. This conviction has arisen because of a lot of factors which help create such desperate fact. Those can reveal the appalling phenomenal form of an authorized corruption wherein all contribute and keep this sector sinking in an awful swamp of failure. Indeed ‘ The right person should be in the right place’ remains an abortive call. Such step has always been expected to be the appropriate resolution to secure the educational system in our country from bullying acts of individuals and institutions.
Education in our religion, in its aggregate sense and accurate ambition, has been given priority since the first word of the Prophet’s (PBUH) revelation started with ‘Iqra’. That Lord’s blessed word impels believers to learn, cultivate, care for , develop and instruct themselves following the teachings of Islam. Knowledge is seen as the key towards faith, development, civilization and happiness as any nation’s supremacy is measured by such attribute. Numerous references to knowledge and its importance , hence, are mentioned in the Qur’an inviting people to think and discover: “Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day are signs for those of understanding.”[3:190] Such view on the value of learning and teaching is also included in the English adage that describes teaching to be the profession that ‘ creates all other professions.’ Similarly, investing in education to gain vocation as well as material benefits is a virtuous act towards authentic understanding and knowledge. ‘An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.’ As once put by US president Benjamin Franklin to describe the implication of knowledge in life in the light of the results of successful education that provides interest to individuals and society.
Yet, the depth of any educated human activity is the origin of man’s effort that requires all the attention and advocates not only interest and care but also the authorities commitment in harmony with the substantive requirements of each stage and period. However, the allegedly reforms since the 90s in our country have done much impairment to the ones done immediately after the independence. Developing this sector’s vital and legitimate acquisitions shouldn’t have been based on an exterior layer makeup to raise material needs as salaries for employers, canteens, building schools, books printing and astonishingly recycling experienced teachers’ (knowledge) instead of training newly employed ones with a colossal budget!! All have remained relievers for fear of a presumed explosion in the social front; whereas the real dented issues were left crumpled without serious recovering or salvation.
So, from the nineties of the last century and due to irrational vision that has indicted the Algerian school of being the source of all society’s ills rather than considering it as a victim of bad management and comportment of all involved components. All the problems have always been the outcome of such attitude and performance of higher authorities control and their arbitrary laws and directives. Besides, among the reasons that have always caused the corruption of the educational sector remains the lack of competence which has deliberately guided the whole sector to a state of mess and dilemma. Additionally the failure to comply with the necessary requirements in most of all the teaching practices and lack of formation and professionalism has led to staff employment swindle and embezzlement of school budget through crooked ways; if not nepotism or bribery, from nominating headmasters who run, through selecting teachers who teach to evaluating students’ work. Everything becomes mechanical, figuratively studied and evaluated rather than following some decent standards that prevent the teacher’s real examination and judgment of students’ true level. Students, at a big horrifying scale, rely on cheating through innovative techniques as a way to pass exams suffering from the huge amount of uncalculated programme materials. Permissiveness in upgrading from level to level becomes merely an absurd and ineffective way of a bullying bureaucratic work devoid of any deep locally studied strategy. All exported directives are available and set to application without consideration to domestic and native tenets or endorsement of the targeted educational community. There have almost been no efforts of genuine achievements, but blind reliance on ready-made foreign educational means and approaches.
This relegation of our school from its standards, belonging and nation’s values, hence, spoiled the genuine objectives of all those involved in education. The actors within this field : the ministry, academy of education and the workers unions share at degrees the prevalent degradation and the corruption phenomena. Every responsible within each institution considers it a personal property. Ignoring that the educational organism shouldn’t be the concern of a single person , therefore a ministry board and councils throughout the schools should be actualized as long as our country keeps seeing the post of minister of education a political status. This situation has always given rise to the individual’s unique decisions that denies others’ contribution; obsession that has constantly been short of efficiency and led to chaos. The school board is deprived of its real role to set rules and laws that promote the creative achievement and discourage corruption. School has become a prey to interest groups; teeming so much pressure on teachers, students, parents and administration. By such stance, a whole generation has been sacrificed through pushing students’ parents towards private schooling and support courses to help rescue their children’s learning from real breakdown, that most can’t afford. This among others is still consecrating a discriminating reality that impedes smart and creative elite from poorer society to benefit from better education, and a gap between classes rises and is awfully widened by such policy.
Furthermore, obliging people to head for a particular foreign language on the expense of the official one because a society’s minority imposes it in spite of the fact that the majority disregard and reject. Recommendations of the Benzaghou ‘s Commission report is a valid example of that drift through its devoted Francophile blind inclination. Such intimidation creates an atmosphere of aggression and tendency to violence as a reaction to a refusal of certain regulations which ignore the real needs, aspirations and natural requirements of an ordinary, naive and loyal citizen. Alien and hostile contents in programmes, so far as they are seen inviolable and bullying, are considered as a sort of betrayal to the genuine ideals of the nation’s history, belonging and sovereignty if they were not incitement to crack the societal cultural barrier. Theoreticians are supposed to take into account the factors that motivate people to be eager to learn as much as they can find what they pursue consistent with their convictions and aptitude. Those scholars, thus, shouldn’t regard the education institutional existence in our country as a space or battlefield meant for ideological controversy, a field test and neither a punitive foundation so far as we are a Muslim country. Those manifestations that divide and create rebellion don’t have to be allowed. The unique winner or loser, actually, is a whole innocent generation that is about to take the lead and guide the nation’s destiny safely for much better future to be enjoyed by all with no exception.
This constant failure in the educational system deeply hurts the whole nation’s foundation pillars that can easily be perceived by the everlasting scandals in all walks of life which a bullying and corrupted society nurtures: crime in streets, provocation in offices, aggression in stadiums, spousal violence at homes, workers strikes and students misconduct at schools. All these phenomena, in fact, mirror the reality within and beyond the fence of the school. Schools shouldn’t be a resort to calm any tension of any kind or a means to combat unemployment and a wide opened door to anyone to run. Assigning people spontaneously ignoring this field’s priorities and susceptibility when relying on diplomas to provide employment without further qualifications or significant training for teaching staff together with the administrative one could be seen as a blatant violation. When we believe that ‘ Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,’ as emphasized by Nelson Mandela, we would be able to realize how huge is the burden and how great are the risks; solutions then to any problem, breakdown or manipulation in the system couldn’t be hard to discover or doomed to failure.
Perhaps among the solutions germane to those scholars’ work on syllabuses, with good intention to reform and away from any prejudice or foreign influence, involving those interested parts in the sector to critically discuss would produce genuine local diagnosis as a first step towards the amelioration of the conditions of schoolwork. Administratively speaking, in order to prevent intruders to sneak in and while fairly focusing on some substantial criteria to keep the chain of educational work within the same sphere efficiently, experienced teachers or veteran ones shouldn’t be deprived from handling such duty. After fifteen to twenty years those could be provided with a type of administrative work. With their assistance they would promote novice teachers’ performance under the supervision of the inspectors. Experienced teachers, in this way, may be prepared to aim higher towards more advanced ranking in the executive body. In such a sector, a technical status that requires wise and mature guys, it’s inappropriate to entrust strangers or inexperienced people to rule the educational field who may possibly do much harm by vilifying some big issues or make unwise decisions. Then, employing qualified teachers in the field could be through the assessment of novice ones graduated from high schools for teachers and part time ones the year long by not only inspectors but also experienced teachers. If those prove to be at the top of their duty then integrating them could be of much convenience that may well prevent corrupted behaviour in addition of being a relief and a gain to this community. Once they are selected they could follow a continued formation for two years or more before being confirmed. This can be, if necessary, supported by an inference test in order to measure the candidate’s willingness extent for the post to be occupied. All branches that are related to education need to follow this process far from any other reckoning.
Without being too idealist, education per se should be beyond all bargaining led by men full of compassion and honesty; not a source of how much gain in business ethics. The sole aim should be the quest for science and knowledge by moral means and through basic ideals. The ultimate strategy, the best for all times, is education first and education last with enough dignity.
Mebrouk Benfettacha
31 March 2016
