‘Zero Paper’: Algerian Universities to Stop Using Paper for Dissertations

November 12, 2022

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‘Zero Paper’: Algerian Universities to Stop Using Paper for Dissertations — Algeria’s “zero paper” policy instructs universities to submit and store theses, research and documentation electronically. (Photo: Shutterstock).

Algeria’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has decreed that all university theses, research and documentation should be submitted via modern technologies as part of a new “zero paper” policy.

Algerian Ph.D. students will thus no longer need to submit printed research papers to obtain a degree.

The policy, announced by the minister of higher education, Kamel Baddari, covers all steps of preparing and editing Ph.D. dissertations and other research. It instructs universities to deposit and disseminate dissertations in digital form exclusively, on CDs that will be published later on the digital platform dSPACE.

The ministerial decision, which Algerian universities received last month, is part of a wider digitalisation policy that aims for all state sectors, including higher education and scientific research, to transition to using modern information and communication technologies (ICT) instead of paper.

Benefits for Students

Most students and academics have welcomed the zero-paper policy as a move that will accelerate Algerian universities’ modernisation, digitalisation, and e-administration, and save them money.

Hichem Bouarouri, a Ph.D. student in media and communication at Mohamed Lamine Debaghine Sétif 2 University, says that dispensing with paper is the right decision, and it came at the right time in light of the information explosion and technological development.

“It is not only about the financial cost but also the significant environmental damage caused by the excessive use of paper. We need a speedy digitalisation of management.”
El-Omari Tajjar, an environmental activist and a professor at Ferhat Abbas University Sétif 1

He told Al-Fanar Media that the decision clearly helps students with the expenses of printing, which include photocopying and binding multiple copies of their university theses.

Ramzi Kachtal, a student at the Institute of Technology at the University of Science and Technology–Houari Boumediene, said the decision was especially welcomed by students with fixed budgets.

Kachtal told Al-Fanar Media that a printed doctoral dissertation used to cost a student over 50,000 Algerian dinars (about $360) because some majors required students to print and bind a number of copies. “After the recent decision, it is enough for a student to have a smartphone, an Internet connection, and a computer that enables them to edit the research and communicate with professors,” he said.

Environmental Benefits

El-Omari Tujjar, an environmental activist and a professor at Ferhat Abbas University Sétif 1, said Algeria imported 1.2 million tons of paper a year, at a cost of 450 million euros. Tujjar estimates that higher education and scientific research institutions consumed half this amount, which burdened the national economy and meant research projects on paper had to be stored.

Tujjar believes move to zero paper will have other benefits, too. “It is not only about the financial cost but also the significant environmental damage caused by the excessive use of paper,” he said. “We need a speedy digitalisation of management.”

“We cannot talk about the digitalisation of the sector, doctoral theses, and technology, while students suffer from poor or non-existent Internet service in some university sites and even in some dormitories.”
Ramzi Kachtal, a student at the Institute of Technology at the University of Science and Technology–Houari Boumediene

The move could also assist efforts to address plagiarism, as all professors’ and students’ communications regarding their theses, including minutes of final deliberations, instructions, directives, and administrative documents, will be made available through ICT under the new policy.

Tujjar also believes that a digital platform for publishing research dissertations will help prevent plagiarism, because it will be difficult for students to quote without citing the source.

Technological Drawbacks

Some students, however, say there are downsides to the move.

“We cannot talk about the digitalisation of the sector, doctoral theses, and technology, while students suffer from poor or non-existent Internet service in some university sites and even in some dormitories,” said Ramzi Kachtal, at the Institute of Technology at the University of Science and Technology–Houari Boumediene.

Such problems became especially evident when the state resorted to distance learning during the Covid-19 pandemic, he told Al-Fanar Media. Some teachers did not use online platforms for lessons because many students lacked the necessary digital devices and Internet connections.

“Not all students have smartphones, and not all of them have laptops,” Kachtal said. “I hope that before taking such a decision consideration will be given to providing grants to help students buy these devices so we can digitise academic operations and make zero paper a success.”

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