The process of reforms initiated by the government during the last 20 years has lead to a quantitative change in the educational system in Tunisia. After having succeeded at raising the attendance rate, the country must now take on the challenge of modernizing and improving the quality of its educational system.
Free schooling and the recent reforms have resulted in an attendance rate of 99% for children aged 6 and a literacy rate of 94.3% for ages 15 to 24, according to figures released by the Ministry of Education. Such figures are impressive in comparison to most other states in the MENA region.
Nevertheless, the education budget has created a solvency problem due to the demand and heavy burden on public finances, claiming nearly a third of the state’s general budget, or 7.5% of the country’s GDP.
The increasing number of students, which should reach some 500,000 by 2009, will further burden the slice of the budget allotted to education, especially if the state system remains predominant. In competition with the free public system, private institutions still remain largely “marginalized”, with student bodies made up mostly of foreign students and the children of affluent Tunisian families.
Quality issues
Faced with this growing demand, the challenge concerns not only the ability to accommodate students but above all, the quality of education received. The growing need for teachers explains why a large proportion of the 19,000 teachers is recruited without experience and are themselves still a part of the student population. These teachers are often saddled with responsibilities exceeding their capabilities, a fact which is affecting education quality.
In fact, many professionals have noted a significant decline, reflected by low skill levels among the new generations of graduates, requiring companies to invest in the training of their employees. These conditions contribute to the existence of a genuine market for private institutions.
These challenges make the renovation of the education system the focus of the school year 2007-2008, aimed at improving the quality of instruction. Lazhar Bououny, the minister of higher education, scientific research and technology, has emphasized the need to “create a partnership among businesses, the educational system and professional training programs, by developing new skills and by adapting university programs to the needs of the economy, in order to assure a better level of employability among graduates.”
The unemployment rate among young graduates is estimated at above 25% according to analysts (18-19% according to official figures). The goal is thus to increase the number of students in the most promising sectors and to achieve increased employability (especially in the service sector and the new information and communication technologies) through the creation of new educational departments in line with university education in the countries of the EU.
The BMD (bachelor’s-master’s-doctoral) reforms officially adopted in July 2005 are part of this framework. The central objective of these reforms is to raise the level of the tertiary educational system in order to meet international standards by facilitating the equivalence of Tunisian diplomas with foreign diplomas and adapting training programs to employers’ needs through the professionalization of university studies. The BMD scheme has received 48 million euros from the EU under its program to modernize higher education.
The implementation of the bachelor’s degree will be followed by the master’s degree in 2008 and the doctorate in 2010. While 59 out of the 190 institutions of higher education have already adhered to the BMD system, this figure is expected to reach 107 in 2008.
Close collaboration among representatives from the field of public education and the private sector will lead to the preparation of a workforce better qualified and more able to compete in the national and international economy. As Tunisia does not have the resource wealth of its two biggest neighbors, Algeria and Libya, creating a smart workforce remains the best way to maintain economic growth.
