The first nine years of school education, is compulsory and divided
into two distinct stages: six years of primary and three years of
preparatory education (lower secondary). Students must score an
average of 50 percent (10/20) or better on regional examinations at
the end of the sixth grade to progress to the lower-secondary cycle.
Students are tested in Arabic writing and reading comprehension;
French writing; reading and dictation; mathematics; introductory
science; Islamic studies; history; geography and civic education.
Although a relatively high percentage of students fail their grade
six examinations, the number is decreasing due to government efforts
to make secondary studies more accessible. In 1991-92, 26 percent of
students had to repeat grade six; in 1999-2000 that figure dropped to
18 percent. During the same period, the number of students dropping
out after grade six fell from 17 percent to 7 percent.
