Literacy
Since gaining independence from France in 1956, the government of Tunisia has focused on developing an education system which produces a solid human capital base that could respond to the changing needs of a developing nation. Sustained structural reform efforts since the early 1990s, prudent macroeconomic policies, and deeper trade integration in the global economy have created an enabling environment for growth. This environment has been conducive to attain positive achievements in the education sector which placed Tunisia ahead of countries with similar income levels, and in a good position to achieve MDGs. [1] According to the HDI 2007, Tunisia is ranked 90 out of 182 countries and is ranked 4th in MENA region just below Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan. Education is the number one priority of the government of Tunisia, with more than 20 percent of government’s budget allocated for education in 2005/06. [2] As of 2006 the public education expenditure as a percentage of GDP stood at 7 percent. [3]
Tunisian education system was built on the French model, therefore, the focus of the education reformers was to Arabize curriculum and faculty at nation’s schools and universities. Tunisia adopted a phased approach towards Arabization. Given the number of Francophone nationals and the absence of qualified Arabized teachers to teach scientific subjects, policy makers maintained French both as a foreign language and as a medium of instruction for math and science in primary education. Humanities and social sciences were Arabized incrementally, initially in primary and subsequently in secondary education. In the 1970s, the decision was made to extend Arabization to all subjects in post-primary education, except vocational, professional, and technical tracks. At the university level, French was maintained as the language of instruction in technical institutes and science faculties. [4] There have also been several other reforms since independence to further improve the education system at all levels:
1) Education is an important Law that actually passed in 1958 emphasized technical and vocational education, and the training of a new breed of educators who are qualified to teach the new curriculum emphasizing Arabic language, literature, Islamic thought and history and geography of the Tunisian and North African region. [5]
2) Then a Higher Education Law was passed that placed all government recognized institutions of higher learning and scientific research under the umbrella of University of Tunis, an institute that was established in 1960, by incorporating several existing higher schools and institutes. [5]
3) In the academic year of 1990-91, the New Education Act introduced an increased length of instruction at the primary and secondary levels from 12 to a total of 13 years. It also made it mandatory for students of ages between 6–16 years of age to attain basic education training. [5]
4) Tunisia introduced competency-based approach in school curriculum in 2000, and revised textbooks accordingly. [4]
5) The 2002 Education Act emphasized the importance of ICT in the education sector. [2]
The academic year runs from September to June and examinations are held in late June or early July.
The Tunisian government has shown strong commitment towards pre-school education. Pre-school education is to be imparted in establishments or specifically designated places to the children from three to six years of age. [6] In Tunisia the pre-school education is provided primarily in three settings:
Kindergartens- These are socio-educational institutions that come under the supervision of Ministry of Women, Family, and Childhood and they belong to either private sector, the quasi-public local authorities or specialist associations. There has been considerable improvement in the coverage of kindergartens from 7.1 percent in 1990 to 14 percent in 2000.But this rate is still low primarily because most 3 to 6-year-olds do not attend kindergarten. [6]
Kouttabs - These religious institutions also cater for children between 3 and 5 years of age. Their task is to initiate them into learning the Quran as well as reading, writing, and arithmetic. They are under the supervision of the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Reforms have enabled to increase the number of these schools from 378 in 1987 to 961 in 2007. These Kottabs host 25,194 children, 11,138 of whom are girls. They are run by mold dibs (teachers) among whom 121 hold degrees in Islamic Sciences, and 60 hold university degrees. A presidential project, “Tomorrow Tunisia”, has been launched to further support Kouttabs so that they fulfill their education mission of consolidating values of religion. [7]
Preparatory year's is also an integral part of basic education but it is not compulsory. It is supervised by the Ministry of Education and Training and is provided in public, private and quasi-public primary schools. [7] The gross enrollment rate at pre-primary has increased steadily since 2000 from 15 percent to 22 percent in 2003. [3]
Enseignement de base consists of nine years of school education and is divided into two distinct stages: 6 years of primary and 3 years of preparatory education (lower secondary). At the end of 9 years students sit for examen national de fin d’Études de l’enseignement de base, success in which leads to the Diplôme de Fin d’Études de l’Enseignement. Students are required to score above 50 percent at the end of sixth grade to progress to the lower secondary level. Although there is a high percentage of students who fail the important grade 6 examinations. Now due to government efforts, the number of students who have to repeat grade 6 is decreasing. In 1991-92, 26 percent of students had to repeat grade 6. But in 1999-2000 that number has dropped to 18 percent. [8] The drop out rate at the primary level is 6 percent and it halved from the drop out the percentage of 12 percent in 2000. The gross enrollment ratio at primary and secondary is greater than 1 which shows that more girls than boys are enrolled at these two education levels. The share of private enrollment at primary level has been slowly increasing from 0.7 percent in 2000 to 0.9 percent in 2003 and in 2007 the private enrollment share was 1.4 percent. [3] The gross enrollment ratio at lower secondary level in 2007 stood at 113 percent, a jump of about 7 percentage points from the GER in 2006. [3]
Also at the beginning of the 2007/208 school year, 9 Pioneer middle schools were launched to offer gifted students early care that will allow them to pursue their studies in pioneer schools in scientific, literary and art fields, with competent and experienced teachers. [7]
The four years of secondary education are open to all holders of Diplôme de Fin d'etudes de l’Enseignement de Base where the students focus on entering university level or join the workforce after completion. The Enseignement secondary is divided into two stages: general academic and specialized.
In the academic stream all students follow a common curriculum for one year after which they choose one of the five specializations from language arts, sciences, and economics and management in case the student is specializing in science at the end of the second year he must choose again but this time between math, experimental sciences, computer sciences or technical sciences . The language of instruction in technical, scientific and mathematics fields is French. At the end of the fourth year of secondary studies, students take Examen National du Baccalauréat. Students are tested on average on six subjects. Those students who complete the secondary cycle, but fail the baccalaureate are awarded a certificate of completion that can later be used for entry into the workforce or for entry to further studies in a private school. In 1995 42.5 percent of baccalaureate takers were successful. However, Tunisia has been appearing in TIMSS since 1999 and has been one of the top performing countries in the Arab region. In 2007, Tunisia ranked second in mathematics and third in science in all of the Arab countries appearing in TIMSS , inInternationalwith scores 420 and 445 respectively. [9] The gender parity index of gross enrollment ratio at the secondary level was 1.1 percent in 2006, implying higher female enrollment than male enrollment at the secondary level. [3]
Professional and vocational programs are administered by the Ministry of Employment, and in more specific disciplines by individual ministries such as agriculture and tourism. Students can opt to enroll in a two-year vocational program leading to the award of dice the Certificat d’Aptitude Professionnelle. These students who have completed the first two years of secondary education may enroll in two-year vocational programs leading to the award of the Brevet de Technicien Professionnel, which in turn gives access to two-year Brevet de Technicien Supérieur programs. [5] The enrollment in TVET at the secondary level has also been rising since 2004.The current(2007) enrollment ratio in TVET is almost 10 percent, with a higher percentage of males enrolled in these programs. [3]
The higher education system in Tunisia has experienced a rapid expansion and the number of students has more than tripled over the past 10 years from approximately 102,000 in 1995 to 365,000 in 2005. The gross enrollment rate at the tertiary level in 2007 was 31 percent, with gender parity index of GER of 1.5. The private university system in Tunisia, accounting for about one percent of students, remains small because the regulatory environment does not encourage foreign investment or the use of part-time teachers in private universities. [1]
In Tunisia in 2005–2006, there were 178 public institutions of higher education among which there were 13 universities, 24 higher institutes of technological studies and six higher institutes of teachers' training. The Higher Education Ministry (HEM) supervises 155 institutions and 23 are under the co-supervision of the HEM and other ministries. In addition HEM recognizes 20 university-level private institutions. [2] The public university system is virtually free and student loans are not available for students enrolled in a private university, making it difficult for private universities to attract students who cannot afford to pay the fees.
During the last decade, in addition to creating seven new universities, the Government of Tunisia (GOT) has made progress in i) in improving the internal efficiency of programs and pass rates in applied science programs and selected short-term programs such as at the higher institutes of technology (Instituts supérieurs des études technologiques) (ii) introducing shorter term professional programs with more relevance; and (iii) granting greater autonomy to universities to give them the flexibility to respond to the changing environment and adapt academic programs to the needs of the economy. [10]
Access to post secondary education is guaranteed to all students holding a baccalaureate diploma. The admission process is centrally controlled through the national university orientation system. Although this centralized system has been criticized[ by whom? ] for its rigidity as it leaves students unsatisfied by the disciplines they have been placed in. The pass rate of the Baccalaureate is not very high in Tunisia. On average 60 percent of students fail the baccalaureate each year. Recently since 2005–06, the government has been trying to implement reform that is based on the European three-tier model of bachelor’s, master's and doctoral degrees. This reform is known as LCD :licence (three years) master’s (two-years), doctorate (five years). The new academic credit hour system is meant to give students greater flexibility in designing their study tracks, while allowing them to earn and transfer credits between institutions both domestically and internationally. [2]
At the university level the first cycle of studies in the academic stream is of two years, which leads to the award of Diploma d’Etudes Universitaires du Premier Cycle. This first degree is regarded as a preparatory one. Then in most other fields, the second cycle leads to the award of Maitrise, which is considered the first degree in Tunisian university system. Later the Diplome d’Etudes Approfondies (DEA) is awarded to Maitrise holders after a further two-year study and the preparation and defense of a thesis. DEA is also a prerequisite for entry into a doctoral program. [5]
Despite this progress, however, numerous challenges remain, as student enrollments in public universities are projected to increase by about 6.6 percent annually, reaching approximately 470,000 (all categories) in 2010, while at the same time, the quality and relevance of education are in need of updating. At 2 percent of GDP, public spending on higher education is already higher than in most countries in the world. Unemployment among university graduates is increasing and the employability of graduates in modern, export-oriented sectors is weak. Mechanisms and incentives to promote quality at the university level are for the most part inadequate and universities cannot fully exercise the autonomy that will help them to better respond to the changes in the labor markets and requirements of a global economy. In sum, due to the projected increase in enrollment, the GOT is faced with a challenge of meeting public demand for higher education in an equitable way, and improving quality in a cost-efficient manner, while responding to existing and new labor market needs. [11]
Tunisia is supported by international organizations (e.g., the World Bank, Microsoft, and Apple in incorporating ICT at all levels of education. These organizations provide support to the government in implementing ICT staff training programs, supporting professional development, providing networking opportunities; researching, developing and evaluating new policy approaches in setting up ICT infrastructure in the country. Some of the innovative projects were the Mobile laboratories and Mobile Internet Buses connected to the internet via satellites to target schools in rural and remote areas so as to reduce the digital divide. Then launched in 1999Global. Teenager Project was launched that led to global classroom debates in cyber space. Tunisia also hosted the second phase of the world summit on information systems. [2]
In 2004, there were 22,000 computer (0.28 computers for every class), but by 2006 there were 57,000 computers (0.71 computers for every class). Although the presidential election program is working towards achieving 1 computer per class by 2009. It is foreseen that the number of trained teachers will increase to 80,000 in 2009 from 60,000 in 2006. All higher education institutes are connected to the internet by El Khawarizmi Calculus Center, which is the official public internet service provider to higher education institutes. The integration of ICT in education is further reinforced by Tunisian Virtual School and the Virtual University of Tunis.
Tunisia was one of the first countries in North Africa and Arab countries to pioneer in the field of distance education and e-learning through the launch of TVS in January 2002. It provides fee interactive courses, revision modules, assistance and ICT training.
It was established as a government initiative in 2003, and it now provides 20 percent of the courses through e-learning. It does not cover all specialties but it does award diplomas and certificates. There are 207 modules, representing more than 8,000 hours, that are ready for use. The university currently has 10 functional access centers, and by 2009 there will be 200. [2]
The Tunisian government introduced the National Program for Adult Literacy (PNEA) in April 2000. It is supervised by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Solidarity. To support this program various civil society organizations and NGO’s have contributed immensely to ensure that adults could gain skills useful in the current job market. For example, in 2006-2007, 5000 young people aged below 30, 40 of whom women, took part in introductory vocational training courses. [7]
Education in Japan is managed by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan. Education is compulsory at the elementary and lower secondary levels. Most students attend public schools through the lower secondary level, but private education is popular at the upper secondary and university levels. Education prior to elementary school is provided at kindergartens and day-care centres. The programmes for those children aged 3–5 resemble those at kindergartens. The educational approach at kindergartens varies greatly from unstructured environments that emphasize play to highly structured environments that are focused on having the child pass the entrance exam at a private elementary school. The academic year starts from April and ends in March, having summer vacation in August and winter vacation in the end of December to the beginning of January.
Education in China is primarily managed by the state-run public education system, which falls under the Ministry of Education. All citizens must attend school for a minimum of nine years, known as nine-year compulsory education, which is funded by the government.
Cameroon is a Central African nation on the Gulf of Guinea. Bantu speakers were among the first groups to settle Cameroon, followed by the Muslim Fulani until German domination in 1884. After World War I, the French took over 80% of the area, and the British 20%. After World War II, self-government was granted, and in 1972, a unitary republic was formed out of East and West Cameroon. Until 1976 there were two separate education systems, French and English, which did not merge seamlessly. French is now considered the primary language of instruction. Local languages are generally not taught as there are too many, and choosing between them would raise further issues.
The education system in Switzerland is very diverse, because the constitution of Switzerland delegates the authority for the school system mainly to the cantons. The Swiss constitution sets the foundations, namely that primary school is obligatory for every child and is free in state schools and that the confederation can run or support universities.
In the 21st century, the Government of Egypt has given greater priority to improving the education system. According to the Human Development Index (HDI), Egypt is ranked 97 in the HDI, and 9 in the lowest 10 HDI countries in the Middle East and Northern Africa, in 2014. With the help of the World Bank and other multilateral organizations Egypt aims to increase access in early childhood to care and education and the inclusion of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at all levels of education, especially at the tertiary level. The government is responsible for offering free education at all levels. The current overall expenditure on education is about 12.6 percent as of 2007. Investment in education as a percentage of GDP rose to 4.8 in 2005 but then fell to 3.7 in 2007. The Ministry of Education is also tackling a number of issues: trying to move from a highly centralized system to offering more autonomy to individual institutions, thereby increasing accountability. The Human Rights Measurement Initiative finds that Egypt is achieving 89.3% of what should be possible for the right to education, at their level of income.
Education in Rwanda has undergone considerable changes throughout Rwanda's recent history, and has faced major disruptions due to periods of conflict. Education was divided by gender whereby women and men had a different education relevant to their responsibilities in day-to-day life. Women were mostly taught housekeeping while men were mainly taught how to hunt, raise animals, and fish. This is because Rwanda was a community-based society where every member had a specific contribution to the overall development of the community. Older family members like grandparents usually took on the role of educators.
The Senegalese education system is based on its French equivalent. The state is responsible for the creation of an educational system that enables every citizen access to education. Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution adopted in January 2001 guarantee access to education for all children. However, due to limited resources and low demand for secular education in areas where Islamic education is more prevalent, the law is not fully enforced.
Education in Bolivia, as in many other areas of Bolivian life, has a divide between Bolivia's rural and urban areas. Rural illiteracy levels remain high, even as the rest of the country becomes increasingly literate. Bolivia devotes 23% of its annual budget to educational expenditures, a higher percentage than in most other South American countries, albeit from a smaller national budget. A comprehensive, education reform has made some significant changes. Initiated in 1994, the reform decentralized educational funding in order to meet diverse local needs, improved teacher training and curricula, formalized and expanded intercultural bilingual education and changed the school grade system. Resistance from teachers’ unions, however, has slowed implementation of some of the intended reforms.
Education in the Syrian Arab Republic is given the necessary attention and care by the Syrian state, as the Syrian Constitution guarantees the right to education to every citizen, which is compulsory and free at primary level. It is free but not compulsory at the secondary level and higher education is available for a symbolic fee. the primary level includes 3 stages, 1 which include grades 1 to 6, while 2 includes grades 7 to 9,and lastly 3 grades 10 to 12
Education in the State of Palestine refers to the educational system in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, which is administered by the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education. Enrollment rates amongst Palestinians are relatively high by regional and global standards. According to a youth survey in 2003, 60% between the ages 10–24 indicated that education was their first priority. Youth literacy rate is 98.2%, while the national literacy rate is 91.1%. Enrollment ratios for higher education were 45% in 2022. In 2016 Hanan Al Hroub was awarded the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize for her work in teaching children how to cope with violence.
Education in Lebanon is regulated by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE). In Lebanon, the main three languages, English and/or French with Arabic are taught from early years in schools. English or French are the mandatory media of instruction for mathematics and sciences for all schools. Education is compulsory from age 3 to 14.
The education system of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan includes basic, secondary, and higher education and has dramatically evolved since the establishment of the state in the early 1900s. The role played by a good education system has been significant in the development of Jordan from a predominantly agrarian to an industrialized nation over time.
Yemen ranked 150 out of 177 in the 2006 Human Development Index and 121 out of 140 countries in the Gender Development Index (2006). In 2005, 81 percent of Yemen's school-age population was enrolled in primary school; enrollment of the female population was 74 percent. Then in 2005, about 46 percent of the school-age population was enrolled in secondary school, including only 30 percent of eligible females. The country is still struggling to provide the requisite infrastructure. School facilities and educational materials are of poor quality, classrooms are too few in number, and the teaching faculty is inadequate.
The education system in Morocco comprises pre-school, primary, secondary and tertiary levels. School education is supervised by the Ministry of National Education, with considerable devolution to the regional level. Higher education falls under the Ministry of Higher Education and Executive Training.
The State of Kuwait, located at the head of the Persian Gulf, supports an educational policy that seeks to provide an opportunity to all children, irrespective of their social class, including children with special needs. Kuwait was ranked 63rd on the Human Development Index report for 2011 by the United Nations Development Programme, placing Kuwait above the regional average.
Education in Belize is governed by the Education Act.
Benin has abolished school fees and is carrying out the recommendations of its 2007 Educational Forum. In 2018, the net primary enrollment rate was 97 percent. Gross enrollment rate in secondary education has greatly increased in the last two decades, from 21.8 percent in 2000 to 59 percent in 2016, 67.1 percent in the case of males and 50.7 percent for females. Because of a rapid increase in the enrollment rate, the student/teacher ratio rose from 36:1 in 1990 to 53:1 in 1997 but has dropped again in the last years to 39:1 (2018). In 2018, the gross enrollment ratio in tertiary education was 12.5%.
Education is compulsory in Burundi for the six years between the ages of seven and 13. Theoretically, primary education is free at point of use.
The education system of Djibouti is strongly influenced by France.
