Tunisia Way

Institutions

In 2005-06, there were 178 public institutions of higher education among which there were 13 universities; 24 instituts supérieurs d’études technologiques (higher institutes of technological studies), training midlevel technicians; and 6 instituts supérieurs de formation des maîtres (higher institutes of teachers training). The remaining institutions are subject-specific institutes that operate under the aegis of one of the country’s universities. 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.

The number of students enrolled in tertiary studies has been growing exponentially since the early 1970s. In 1970, 10,000 students were attending university. By 1990 that number had risen to 69,000, by 2000 to 207,000 and by 2005 to 327,000.  

Admission and Evaluation

Access to postsecondary studies is guaranteed to all students holding the Diplôme du Baccalauréat. The admission process is centrally controlled through the système national d’orientation universitaire (national university orientation system), which selects students based on an algorithm that computes student preference, scores, program of instruction at the secondary level, and the ministry-set quota for each field of study and institution.

The system has been criticized for a high level of rigidity and centralization that leaves many students unsatisfied with the discipline into which they have been placed. It has also been criticized for preventing students the chance to change disciplines in the course of their studies. Officials have been trying to address this problem, most recently through the introduction of a credit-hour system aimed at greatly increasing the intra-faculty mobility of students. 

Because the baccalauréat examination acts as both a high school leaving examination and a university entrance examination, pass rates are considerably lower than for many other national school leaving examinations. On average, 60 percent of students fail the baccalauréat each year.

The grading scale used at universities is the same 20-point scale used in earlier stages of the education system. In order to progress from one year to the next, students must average at least 10 out of 20. If a student’s scores in a majority of subjects are unsatisfactory he will be required to retake the year. Most institutions allow students to retake a year once in each cycle of their particular program. The university dropout rate is very high, with approximately 45 percent of all students beginning a first university program failing to graduate.