Day: September 11, 2023

‘The national consultation on education reform is one of the most important consultations in the history of Tunisia,’ President Kais Saied stressed on Monday evening, adding that “this is not an exaggeration because it concerns the future of the Tunisian people and the future of the nation”. He was speaking at a meeting at Carthage Palace on Monday with Education Minister Mohamed Ali Boughdiri, Higher Education and Scientific Research Minister Moncef Boukthir, Communication Technologies Minister Nizar Ben Neji, Religious Affairs Minister Ibrahim Chaibi and Family, Women, Children and the Elderly Minister Amal Belhaj Moussa. “There will be no future for us without a national education and an education based on a set of reforms after the failure of the so-called reforms that were introduced in the last years and the years before,” he stressed. President Saied explained that the consultation is addressed to all Tunisians and not only to educators; ‘it is a national consultation open to all who wish to participa
te”. He stressed the need to protect the reform process after the consultation and the establishment of the Higher Education Council with all the elements of success. ‘Any mistake made in any reform can only be corrected after decades,’ he said. The President pointed out that the Tunisian state will not abandon public education and is working to ensure the right to education for all on an equal basis. He said that education was compulsory until the age of sixteen, but “we see it compulsory so that the prospects are wider”. He reviewed the series of educational reforms that followed in Tunisia until the 1958 reform, which was not easy to implement despite the circumstances that prompted it, and which led to a change, even a revolution, in society at the time. He stressed that conclusions would be drawn from this consultation in order to issue the law establishing the Higher Education Council and then to carry out the reform on a solid basis.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Health Minister Ali Mrabet stressed the importance of strengthening the partnership between Tunisia and the United States in the field of medical research and investing in modern systems to respond to the needs of effective health care and the development of health services during his meeting on Monday in Tunis with Senior Associate Dean for Postgraduate Medical Education at Harvard Medical School, Ajay Singh. Mrabet discussed with his guest the opportunities for cooperation in medical education and research and the exchange of experiences between the Ministry and Harvard Medical School, according to a statement from the Ministry. He noted the “strong relations between Tunisia and the United States in the field of scientific and advanced medical research”. For his part, the Senior Associate Dean of Harvard Medical School expressed his admiration for Tunisia’s experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. He praised Tunisia’s system of medical training and studies and expressed Harvard University’s willingness to
strengthen partnership relations with the Tunisian Ministry of Health.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Minister of Education Mohamed Ali Boughdiri said his ministry has mobilised all the necessary means to ensure a successful and safe start of the school year 2023-2024, pointing out that 2,356,630 students will return to school this year, up 2.8% compared to last year. Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Boughdiri pointed out that the number of classes had increased by 0.6%, or 547 additional classes, in addition to the rise in the number of schools (11 new schools) to a total of 6,139. He also mentioned a 0.5% increase in the number of teachers (747 additional teachers) to a total of 156,234 at primary, middle and high school levels. As part of its efforts to prevent pupils from dropping out of school, the Ministry of Education is committed to providing school meals to 450,000 pupils in 2023-2024, compared to 285,000 pupils last year, and to increasing the number of pupils benefiting from school transport, especially those living in remote areas. He said that the number of pupils living in schools host
els had increased to 26,400, compared with 26,082 last year, while the number of hostels this year was 292, compared with 289 in the 2022-2023 school year. In addition, the Minister of Education recalled the various measures taken by his ministry regarding the integration of substitute teachers into the ministry’s data platform, the increase in substitute teachers’ salaries (from TND 750 to TND 1250) over 12 months instead of 10 as of the new school year, adding that it had been decided to put an end to all forms of precarious work. Boughdiri announced the launch of a national consultation on the reform of the education system on September 15, calling on all stakeholders to participate and express their opinions on the education reform.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse