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.
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.
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.
A presidential project, “Tomorrow Tunisia”, has been launched to further support Kouttabs so that they fulfill their education mission of consolidating values of religion.
It is supervised by the Ministry of Education and Training and is provided in public, private and quasi-public primary schools.
Students are required to score above 50 percent at the end of sixth grade to progress to the lower secondary level.
[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.
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.
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.
[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.
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.
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.
[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.
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.
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.