It was noticed the return of official figures who until recently held the ministerial portfolio, roaming today in the university yards in Algeria, especially in the faculties of political science, without the slightest protocol or discrimination.
“Sky News Arabia” spoke with a number of these ministers to find out the reasons that motivate them to take this step, how they found study seats after decades of their cave, and what is the importance of this in their professional and scientific path.
Those personalities preferred not to publish their name in return for presenting their testimony in this matter.
One of the ministers, who was until recently a member of the Algerian government, told Sky News Arabia: “There is no specific age for knowledge. The idea has been with me throughout my life. This step enhances my abilities and gives me a certificate that no position can replace.”
The minister stressed that he is keen to attend lectures and work lessons directed, and he is not at all embarrassed to sit next to the students, as he said: “I have a good relationship with the students, and we really feel that we are colleagues.”
Between desire and fighting the void
It seems that the new educational system adopted by the Algerian University during the last five years, where the three-degree system (Bachelor, Master, PhD), known as the LMD system, was implemented, which encouraged those tires to return to school in order to obtain a master’s degree and even PhD in their field.
In terms of numbers, the total number of university students in Algeria has reached more than 2 million, with an unprecedented increase of baccalaureate holders of more than 300,000 students compared to previous academic seasons, including a large group of previous tires.
According to the professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Algiers 3, researcher Taoufik Boukadeh, the return of these politicians to the study seats is considered a positive thing and indicates the renewed desire of these people to learn to acquire scientific knowledge, and to renew their knowledge balance.
“Not all of them are motivated by the desire to learn, as there are those among them who want to fight the void that resulted from the completion of their tasks,” Boukadeh told Sky News Arabia.
The university professor, who is supervising the study of a number of these people, believes that some have found the university the only place to kill the void and psychological treatment of their multiple traumas that they faced in their professional and political lives.
Opportunity for new students
The Algerian University has turned into an arena that enables new students to interact and gain experiences from the experiences of these previous frameworks, as well as discuss practical topics not from the gateway to theories and approaches, but from the gateway to experiences and expertise as well.
The Ministry of Higher Education provides wider options to continue studying, such as distance education through the disciplines proposed by the University of Continuing Training, or the possibility of accessing a master’s degree through agreements concluded by universities with economic partners, or the possibility of obtaining a second university degree with the first baccalaureate (according to certain conditions). ).
Among them is the notary, Mohamed Zitouni, who also decided to return to the university to study a specialty and obtain a second university degree.
Zitouni told Sky News Arabia: “The Algerian University is attracting many officials, especially in light of the pandemic, which has opened the way, and more broadly, for the possibility of continuing to study for and even conducting quarterly exams.”
Zitouni, who continues to study political science at the Faculty of Political Science, which is the most attractive for former ministers and senior officials, pointed out that the Algerian University provides great facilities for those wishing to continue their studies and return to the university’s stands after a long break.
And appointed on the bags of Tabun
Although the professors unanimously described the return of former officials to school as a positive and encouraging matter for new students, some people’s view of the ministers’ return to school seats still raises some questions about the hidden goals that push them to take this step at this particular time.
In this regard, Ali Serdok, a professor of media sciences at the University of Guelma, explained that the return of ministers to the study seats is a strategic option to restore the expectation within the wheels of the state.
Serdok told Sky News Arabia: “The new Algeria is witnessing great competition between politicians. It is noticeable that in recent years, senior positions have been granted to holders of higher degrees, to the exclusion of other politicians.”
He added, “President Abdel Majid Taboun follows a different strategy in appointments, and this was embodied both through the government of former Prime Minister Abdelaziz Jarad and even the current Prime Minister Ayman Abdel Rahman, where we note that many portfolios are granted to holders of a doctorate in the specialty.”
