MANAGING QUALITY AND QUALITY ASSURANCE IN THE LMD ERA: THE ALGERIAN CASE

Higher Education, in Algeria, has witnessed many challenges since post-independence. However, with the implementation of the Bologna Declaration in 2004-2005, Algerian Higher Education had to adapt to a universal and globalized educational system in constant growth and change. Despite the numerous attempts to approach the LMD architecture in the Algerian context, adaptivity has not been properly addressed in both teaching and learning. Quality management (QM) was a preliminary issue in changing the design and the structure of the system.
In order to intervene as a reassuring agent in this process of change, Quality Assurance (QA) was an important element in the new composition of the procedures pertaining to the good functioning of Higher Education Institutions.
This research seeks to shed light on the evaluation of the Quality Assurance project as adopted by the Algerian Higher Education. The evaluation has been undertaken in the year 2011 after six years of implementation of the LMD system. The survey reflects on the development of the Algerian approach towards quality and quality assurance in the organisation of teaching and evaluation including the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) and its relevance for the university reform in other European countries. The results are used to promote exchanges of information and experiences between the decision makers and the practitioners in the field.
More than that, this research aims to analyse how Quality Assurance initiatives could promote the quality of both teaching and learning and support better practices already established in Europe.
Major results of the research focus on the decentralization of responsibilities, autonomy of providers and accountability which remain very difficult to apply in Algeria. Our aim is, thus, to provide a well-delimited concept to be implemented in the short-term.