[* عبد الجليل *]

Primary education
School is free and by law compulsory for all children from they are 6 or 7 years old, then continuing through 9 years of schooling. Yet, ca. 9% of girls and 3% of boys do not attend primary school. Drop out rates are dramatically higher for secondary school, where about half do not attend. Algeria has the problem of shortage of teachers, as the numbers of school children have risen dramatically over recent years, parallel to insufficient government programs to educate more teachers.
Average school day is between 5.5 and 6.5 hours.
There is a great focus on Arabic and Mathematics, the first 3 years, every second teaching hour is devoted to Arabic. In 1992, English was introduced as foreign ******** alongside French, but pupils choose just one of the two. Education in foreign ******** begins in the 4th grade.
Public schools operate jointly under the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Religious Affairs: Islam is a required part of the curriculum, but only with 2 hours a week for young pupils, 1 hour from 7th grade and on.