President Ben Ali’s ambitious program for Higher Education in Tunisia

Sadok Bouhlila
(Head of English Graduate Studies:Manouba University)

As an academic I was particularly impressed by President Ben Ali’s items 16 and 17 of his electoral program for 2009-2014 which are dedicated to higher education and scientific research.

Much has been accomplished since the Change in terms of setting up a knowledge society and upgrading training in Tunisian universities, however President Ben Ali’s program gives new impetus to the reform engaged in Tunisian higher education, especially insofar as the implementation of the LMD system is concerned.


The new system which will offer increased job opportunities for Tunisian students thanks to the judicious initiative aiming at orienting two thirds of students towards applied bachelor degrees by 2014.

The point relative to “giving humanities their due status to serve national intellectual assets and meet social need in the fields they cover”, will no doubt rejoice many academics and students specializing in the humanities.

Similarly, the point related to setting up joint diplomas between Tunisian Higher Education institutions and universities in developed countries is both timely as it is essential. It also involves increasing the number of research projects that use English, with the State bearing the costs of the language training of researchers in line with international standards.
President Ben Ali’s program for Higher Education is truly groundbreaking, in setting up priorities and in addressing major national concerns such as employment for university graduates, he is paving the way for tomorrow’s university for all Tunisians.