Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, June/July 2022, p. 62
Human Rights
ON APRIL 26, the Middle East Institute’s North Africa and Sahel Program and the North African Policy Initiative (NAPI) co-hosted a panel of young Tunisian professionals to discuss their country’s educational challenges and opportunities.
NAPI director Jean-Louis Romanet Perroux, moderator of the lively discussion, noted that education in Tunisia—where 40 percent of the population is under the age of 25—is a heart-felt issue and ranks high in terms of the priorities of Tunisians.
Education was a trademark of Tunisia after gaining independence from France. “The large investment in education, reforms and the forward-looking attitude toward education distinguished Tunisia from all the countries in the region,” Perroux noted. However, the quality of the system has declined over the years through neglect and lack of foresight, even though Tunisia continues to spend a large share of its GDP—among the highest in the region—on education, he said.
Nourjahen Gala-Ali is a project manager for the NGO Lights, Camera, Learn!, which works with children in underserved regions around the world to create fun and educational content through filmmaking. One aspect of Tunisia’s educational system that needs particular attention is the connection between education and employment, she said.
In 2019—before COVID-19—the country’s official unemployment rate was 15 percent. Currently, it’s almost 17 percent overall, but 36 percent of young people are unemployed and 33 percent of young graduates don’t have jobs.
“People told us in order to get a job you need to get a degree first, but people do have degrees and even with that they are not getting employment,” Gala-Ali noted. “Tunisian schools do not prepare you to be employed and do not equip you with the necessary skills that a 21st century employee needs to have.”
School infrastructure is one of the shortcomings that needs to be addressed, Gala-Ali explained. Some schools—even in cities—don’t have water or electricity, while many rural schools don’t have functioning computers or adequate software.
Walid Hedidar, an education development specialist currently working in strategic philanthropy and social impact, explained that student dropouts are a disturbing problem for the country. Some 100,000 students drop out of school every year due to poor access to schools, poor infrastructure, excessive repetition of grades and the inability to identify students at risk. “I think this is a repercussion of many years of stagnation of the education system,” Hedidar said.
Software engineer Mariem Bchir is co-founder of LEAPS Academy, a teacher training start-up based in Tunisia. She emphasized the importance of providing “soft skills or skills like critical thinking or entrepreneurial thinking” that are applicable to multiple professions.
Mehdi Cherif is the co-founder and current coordinator of Fahmologia, a non-profit initiative to promote scientific communication in Tunisia. Educational reforms alone won’t solve the country’s economic issues, he argued, as broader challenges must also be addressed.
Presently in Tunisia, he said, many job offerings are related to international companies, and “it means that these businesses could leave and we’re putting ourselves at risk economically of having the rug pulled out from under our feet.”
There is also the “brain drain” issue of students and professionals with the financial means going abroad and not returning, he noted.
“I would like to see an educational system that is empowered by economic reforms,” Cherif said. “We have to reduce unemployment…inequality of conditions…so that every Tunisian student can explore his or her interest, be it in philosophy, art or medicine, without fearing for their future. We must allow them to contribute as much as they want and as much as they can to society.”
—Elaine Pasquini
