Government Set Conditions For Recognizing Foreign Baccalaureate, University Certificates

Government announced the conditions and modalities for the recognition of foreign higher education certificates for equivalence at the Ministry of Higher Education in Algeria, as the foreign certificates should be issued by a recognized higher education institution and that is attested by international agreements with Algeria.

According to Executive Decree No. 18-95 of March,19, 2018, that is issued in the latest number of the Official Gazette, which specifies the conditions of equivalence and the recognition of foreign higher education certificates, an electronic database should be established with the Ministry of Higher Education at the disposal of citizens, and the Directorate of Education in charge of providing equivalence and monitoring documentation of the Ministry of Higher Education, to provide the electronic database with all information that is related to the higher education systems and the system of studies, training programs and certificates.

In order to update the electronic database, the Foreign Ministry, through its diplomatic and consular missions abroad, should contribute to providing this database with data concerning the legal and academic nature of the certificates of recognition and any information related to the higher training.

Higher Education Ministry may ask the Foreign Ministry to control the process at relevant foreign higher education institutions to provide the validity of the foreign certificate that is subject of recognition legally and academically.

The same decree specifies the acceptable criteria for studying applications for recognition by the Ministry of Higher Education, as it requires that the international conventions that were ratified by the Algerian state should be respected, and the holder of the certificate of foreign higher education should verify the legal and academic nature of the training institution within the higher education system, and the prior recognition of the certificate by the competent authority that is entrusted with the higher education of the State that ensures the training, and the certificate must be of scientific value within the national and international framework.

Applications for recognition of higher education certificates that were received by public institutions of foreign higher education shall be considered in accordance with conditions.

The most important of these conditions is that the foreign institution shall be established by the competent authority of the State, which shall ensure the training in accordance with the legislation and organization in which the work is carried out in that State, and the specialties and training that are recognized in the country.

Higher Education Ministry can also grant specialized equations for types of foreign baccalaureate graduations to enable its holder to register and study in higher education, exclusively in the division that corresponds to the Foreign Baccalaureate Division, while the same decree grants the recognition of diplomas that are granted by foreign universities which are operating in Algeria, and the private university institutions, where eight days have been fixed from the date of depositing the file to deliver the equivalence graduation or the rejection of his request, and students can appeal in case of non-recognition of their testimony and examination of their applications by a committee that is composed of experts.