Algeria's high bac success rate means more competition for university applicants

20/08/2008

Students across Algeria scored very well on their final exams in 2008, intensifying the competition for university admissions and popular majors.

By Mouna Sadek for Magharebia in Algiers – 20/08/08

[Getty Images] The Algerian government has found it difficult to handle new student placements this year because students scored higher than usual on the baccalaureate exams.

Now that the mayhem of the baccalaureate in Algeria is over and everyone knows whether they passed and how they scored, new high school graduates are gearing up to face another obstacle on the way to higher education: admission into university.

According to numbers released by the Ministry of Higher Education, Algerian students performed very well overall on the baccalaureate examinations. Yet it is their widespread success which has stiffened the already fierce competition for admission into prestigious medical, polytechnic, public administration and veterinary science programmes.

In response to the heightened demand, the ministry of education has raised the threshold for admission to several schools.

"In previous years, Baccalaureate holders could enrol in the institutes of IT or Polytechnics with an average score of 12/20," said one frustrated student, Nadir. "Today I'm told that's impossible."

Nadir now has to look for the next possible choice, but "the courses which are available don't interest me. I don't know what to do now," he added.

Students like Nadir are being edged out by the greater-than-usual proportion of exceptional grades: in the 2008 bac exams, over 1,100 students received an "excellent" rating, with 11,500 "good" and some 64,000 "above average".

According to official records, 33.6% of successful bac candidates (85,451 students) received their first choice course, while 186,628 others were directed to other programmes in their top five choices.

Minister of Higher Education Rachid Harraoubia addressed the issue in a press conference on August 7th. Harraoubia said the government found it difficult to handle new student placements.

The example of medical courses, he said, was the best illustration of the dilemma facing higher education authorities.

"Twelve thousand spots are available in medical courses for the next university intake," he said, "but those passing the baccalaureate with 'excellent' or 'good' ratings number nearly 13,000.

We didn't force the bac holders into taking one course or another, [but] even with an average score of 14/20, it would be difficult to get into a medical course."

As for distribution across the different types of establishments, 80.84% of bac recipients will pursue studies at university, 40,866 others will go to university centres, 4,667 to national institutes and schools and 3,098 will go to higher national schools. The minister said that around 190,000 new seats will be taken up at the start of the new university year, whilst 141,000 students graduated this year.

Because they cannot go into their preferred majors, some students are planning to retake the baccalaureate exam next year in order to improve their marks.

One student plans to apply to the biology department at the Houari Boumediene University of Science and Technology, but was still considering re-taking the bac exams to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor.

"I didn't get a good average score this year," she told Magharebia, "but I’m determined to work hard so that I can sign up for the medical course next year."