Algeria to Teach English Before French in Primary Schools for First Time

Algeria will begin teaching English before French in primary schools for the first time in its history, a landmark change in language policy since gaining independence from France in 1962.

On July 25, Algerian Education Minister Mohamed Seghir Saadaoui announced that English would become the sole foreign language taught in the third year of primary school starting in the 2026-2027 academic year. French will be pushed back to the fourth year, ending its dominance in foreign language classes in public schools. Starting next month, 8-year-olds across Algeria will be the first cohort to learn English before French.

This is one of the first steps in President Abdelmadjid Tebboune's language reform plan, which he outlined in 2022 when he introduced English into primary schools. Since then, medical and natural science faculties have begun transitioning from French to English. French has also been removed from some utility bills and Air Algerie plane tickets. Road signs now include English alongside Arabic, and ministerial websites have added English options.

The shift from French to English comes amid the most serious diplomatic crisis between Algeria and France since independence. In July 2024, French President Emmanuel Macron publicly backed Morocco's sovereignty claim over Western Sahara. Algeria, which supports the Polisario Front and hosts more than 170,000 Sahrawi refugees, viewed this as a provocation. The tensions led both countries to expel each other's diplomats.

Ahmed Krim, 60, who taught English for 30 years at an Algerian middle school, called the decision very good but said it requires thought, planning, and resources. He argued for reviving specialized teacher training centers that existed after independence, which combined classroom instruction with direct school internships, rather than relying solely on universities as is currently the case.

Journalist and analyst Noureddine Bessadi noted that the ideological aspect is very important in Algeria. After independence, the Arabization process that removed French from government and education was part of state-building, affirming Algerian identity centered on Arabic and Islam. Tamazight, the language of about a quarter of the population, was marginalized until 1995.

Some critics argue the transition from French to English is quicker than the system can handle, but a source familiar with the matter said there are enough English teachers to implement the primary school program. In February, Algeria's Education Ministry recruited about 15,000 English teachers for primary schools.

Rafik Laceb, an English lecturer at Mouloud Mammeri University in Tizi Ouzou, is cautiously optimistic about the primary school reform but called the push to teach university subjects in English hasty and poorly executed. He said the university program started in 2023-2024 lacks sufficient contact hours and proper assessment of students' English proficiency.

Currently, public school children only start learning a foreign language in the third grade, while private schools teach multiple languages from kindergarten. Djamel Merah, a parent whose children attended private school, welcomed the reform because it gives more children the chance to learn English, narrowing the opportunity gap between public and private schools.

Public response appears to have outpaced government policy. Krimo Taleb, owner of the Libre Pensee bookstore in Tizi Ouzou, noted an increase in English book sales, especially among female readers. Best-selling authors include Colleen Hoover, Ana Huang, and J.K. Rowling. "Previously, our bookstore served English literature students with Shakespeare's works. Today, there is a wide range of English titles aimed at the general public," Taleb said.

Despite this, French remains the most influential foreign language in Algeria with about 15 million speakers, nearly a third of the population, according to the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF). No newspaper is published in English, and English writing by Algerians is still in its infancy.

The trend of moving away from the French language legacy is spreading across Africa. In March 2025, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso left the OIF, accusing it of being a political tool of Paris. Mali made national languages official in 2023, downgrading French to a working language. Senegal, while not abandoning French, has also begun promoting local languages.