VZCZCXRO1619
PP RUEHTRO
DE RUEHAS #0779/01 2381427
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 261427Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY ALGIERS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7823
INFO RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ALGIERS 000779 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/PI, NEA/EX; TUNIS FOR JSCHMONSEES 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMPI PREL KPAO PGOV AG
SUBJECT: MEPI ALGERIA SNAPSHOT: PSP ENGLISH TRAINING 
 
ALGIERS 00000779  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  We saw the MEPI-funded Partnership Schools 
Program (PSP) in action recently in the western Algerian city 
of Sidi Bel Abbes as MEPI implementers provided training to a 
group of government language inspectors.  The progress we 
saw, along with anecdotal evidence from participants, 
trainers and program managers, indicates that PSP is an 
effective component of our broader programming focus on 
English language training in Algeria.  The history of PSP in 
Algeria shows the need for commitment to long-term projects 
(24 months or more) and patience to persevere through the 
Algerian bureaucracy, especially in the early stages of a 
program.  With that commitment, however, we can have a 
positive impact on the education system here and provide a 
spectrum of technical assistance to the Algerian English 
language curriculum, an area that officials continually 
stress is a priority of the government. END SUMMARY. 
 
PSP TRAINING EFL INSPECTORS 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U)  The Partnership School Program (PSP) is our largest 
MEPI-funded program in Algeria.  Started in late 2004 and 
implemented by Creative Associates, the program has three 
components:  improving the quality of English as a Foreign 
Language (EFL) instruction; using technology to create a more 
participatory curriculum; and creating linkages between U.S. 
and Algerian high schools.  To assist the Ministry of 
National Education (MNE) expand EFL programming in Algeria, 
Creative Associates developed a "train the trainer" program 
that provides workshops to EFL program inspectors assigned in 
each wilaya (province).  EFL inspectors are MNE employees 
responsible for supervising and training language teachers 
and developing the national examinations for both middle 
school and university students (the Brevet d'Enseignement 
Moyen (BEM) and the Baccalaureat de l'Enseignement Secondaire 
(BAC), respectively).  Inspectors also have other 
administrative responsibilities across assigned regions. 
Since each inspector is responsible for the ultimate 
oversight of approximately 300 teachers in addition to their 
other duties, they are a particularly important demographic 
for this training. 
 
¶3. (U) We went to Sidi Bel Abbes in western Algeria in June 
to observe the third phase of the ESL inspector training, 
which took place across the country.  To date, 55 inspectors 
have been trained, and Creative Associates has awarded a 
sub-grant to World Learning/School for International Training 
to work with the MNE to create a performance-based curriculum 
and provide additional expertise to conduct the training. 
 
CHALLENGES: JOINING THE 21ST CENTURY 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶4. (U)  PSP, the first American-based long-term education 
program in Algeria, faced significant start-up challenges, 
including the slow development of cooperative relationships 
at the education ministry and a lack of infrastructure at the 
center designated for e-training modules. PSP also had to 
decipher the Algerian education reform process to determine 
where best to fit its programming within the Algerian 
bureaucracy.  It took an entire year before PSP could begin 
program activities on the ground; the first assessment was 
done in November 2004, and the first team began activities in 
January 2006. 
 
¶5. (U) Although the MNE likes to claim that it is 
decentralized throughout the country, it is still very much a 
top-down bureaucracy.  Departments within the ministry do not 
always communicate effectively with each other, causing 
delays in implementation of programs like PSP.  In addition, 
PSP is only authorized to interact directly with the 
department of donor coordination, which means that it is 
fully reliant on that office to communicate program 
activities and directives to other departments in Algiers and 
across the country that are the primary stakeholders in the 
programming, such as the department of teacher supervision 
and training and the departments of secondary education and 
primary education.  Implementers tell us that the department 
of donor coordination is understaffed and disorganized, 
hampering effective and consistent communication.  Attention 
is often focused on a specific activity, with little 
reflection on strategic planning, program content or 
long-term sustainability. 
 
¶6. (U) In 2005, the MNE announced the creation of an 
Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) Center for 
Education that would link all schools to the Internet and 
serve as a communication and information hub.  Officials 
expected to have the capacity to house powerful servers to 
 
ALGIERS 00000779  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
manage the education system, as well as to employ a staff 
able to create and adapt IT educational programs. The Center 
is still understaffed in 2009, both in terms of numbers and 
skills, and is unable to get the Internet connections needed 
for the servers to function.  This has caused a particular 
challenge for PSP's eMath and School Linkages Programs. 
Despite the claim that all regional education directorates 
and high schools across the country would be equipped with 
Internet and computer labs, many inspectors and teachers in 
PSP's trainings were unable to gain access to on-line 
training modules. 
 
SUCCESSES: REGIONAL BUY-IN 
-------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) Despite the challenges PSP faced getting started, the 
program has logged several significant successes, including 
an unexpectedly high level of regional and local commitment 
to the program and the development of professional networks. 
Through the School Linkages program, PSP trainers were able 
to train teachers that had never previously touched a 
computer and had difficulty integrating new technologies into 
their classrooms.  Through follow-up evaluations, Creative 
Associates reported to us that many of the teachers they 
trained are now integrating ICT activities into their lesson 
plans and are adapting School Linkages activities for their 
students.  The teachers trained through the EFL component of 
the program are now being asked to assist the inspectors in 
region-wide teacher training programs, amplifying the effect 
of these programs across the wilaya.  We heard anecdotally of 
a school director in Setif applying one of the techniques he 
learned through PSP training throughout his school.  We were 
also told that the wilaya of Ghardaia has continued the eMath 
program and expanded it to additional schools even absent 
ongoing MNE or MEPI funding. 
 
¶8. (U) In conjunction with the inspectors themselves, PSP is 
developing tools to improve the teaching and learning of 
English throughout the education system.  A comprehensive 
inspector manual is in the final stages of development.  It 
has been a collaborative effort involving the inspectors who 
participated in PSP trainings.  By involving them in the 
drafting of the documents, PSP implementers hoped to give the 
inspectors a greater sense of ownership and pride in the 
finished product and hoped they would encourage the ministry 
to adopt the manuals for wide distribution.  The attempt at 
buy-in seems to be working:  during the training in Sidi Bel 
Abbes, we witnessed inspectors debating the finer points of 
their own competencies as well as reviewing a comprehensive 
list of teacher competencies.  PSP implementers also told us 
that there has been a marked improvement in the inspectors' 
willingness to collaborate with one another since the 
beginning of the program.  In fact, while planning the next 
workshops to occur in the autumn, inspectors rebelled at a 
suggestion that their group be split in order to facilitate 
logistics, insisting that they should continue working as a 
cohesive unit; a desire that may require additional financial 
and time resources for them. 
 
¶9. (U) One of the ancillary goals of PSP has been to 
facilitate professional relationships between teachers and 
inspectors.  During the teacher training program, teachers 
from Setif and Blida connected with each other for the first 
time via the Internet to share teaching strategies, and many 
have maintained contact over time.  This has also happened 
among the EFL inspectors, who, we are told, have gained new 
insight into teamwork.  PSP is creating a website called the 
EFL Virtual Learning Environment to continue fostering these 
networks.  The website will have a list of helpful EFL sites, 
EFL documents to use and chat rooms for both inspectors and 
teachers. 
 
ON THE HORIZON: PEDAGOGIC CURRICULUM 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶10. (SBU)  MEPI awarded Creative Associates an additional USD 
1 million to develop a program to work with the national 
teacher training colleges, the Ecoles Normales Superieures 
(ENS), as well as selected universities, to improve the 
pedagogic curriculum used to train new EFL teachers.  This 
program would collaborate with the Ministry of Higher 
Education (MHE) to evaluate and strengthen English language 
teacher education programs to reflect the current best 
practices in the field of modern language teaching.  We 
facilitated a meeting between Creative Associates Field 
Manager Sarah Havekost and Arezki Saidani in the Office of 
Donor Coordination at the MHE in late June to present the 
MEPI-funded pedagogic proposal.  Mr. Saidani expressed 
enthusiasm toward the project and hosted a second meeting 
 
ALGIERS 00000779  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
within a week with representatives from a geographically 
diverse group of universities and teacher colleges.  He also 
provided the documentation needed to begin the assessment 
phase of the program. 
 
¶11. (U)  Training for this program would be conducted 
throughout the 2009-2010 academic year in three two-week 
sessions, with an on-line component slated between each 
session.  A total of 42 participants would be trained through 
the program, which builds on a broad theoretical 
understanding of modern foreign language teaching.  The 
Algerian educational system, based on a French model, is 
often strong on theory but weak on practical application. 
Accordingly, this training would focus on translating 
education theory into practical training models for teachers 
to utilize over a career.  The program would also enhance the 
skills of participants both as language teachers and as 
trainers of other foreign language teachers. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Nacer Tou, Rector of Djillali Liabes University in 
Sidi Bel Abbes, told us at a meeting on July 22 with PSP's 
Havekost and several university staff that he hoped to expand 
EFL programs through engagement with either American or the 
British organizations.  He had already approached the British 
Council, which was reluctant to move forward, he said.  Tou 
proudly spoke of his university's engagement with both the 
Spanish and the Germans to improve other foreign-language 
curricula.  We described the MEPI-funded program's general 
terms, and Rector Tou said that he would discuss it with Mr. 
Saidani at the MHE. 
 
¶13. (SBU) COMMENT: Rector Tou requested a meeting with us and 
the PSP representatives upon hearing that the Embassy had 
sent a representative to observe the PSP training in Sidi Bel 
Abbes.  Foreign language instruction, especially English 
language instruction, is clearly a priority for Djillali 
Liabes University and other universities across Algeria, and 
we may be able to use the MEPI-funded pedagogic program with 
the MHE to create new partnerships with universities around 
the country as well as the ENS system.  What we witnessed in 
Sidi Bel Abbes proved that, with a commitment to long-term 
project life-spans and the patience to persevere through the 
Algerian bureaucracy in the early stages, MEPI programs in 
EFL and teacher training can be effective in Algeria with a 
reach well beyond the capital. 
 
¶14.  (U) Tripoli minimize considered. 
PEARCE