The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the significant challenges already facing marginalised students’ access to quality education in Tunisia. School closures for almost half of last year and much of this year have caused significant disruptions and there are growing fears of the cumulative impact of these on Tunisian children’s education (Bouhlila 2021). To help, this year, the Alfred Deakin Institute (ADI), in partnership with the Council for Australian-Arab Relations (CAAR), has undertaken work to support local education NGOs to develop, implement and evaluate innovative pilot projects that aim to alleviate these growing inequities.

Part of a broader project to build the capacity of Tunisian NGOs working with marginalised communities, four new projects have been created to empower young people to advocate for better quality education, and to raise awareness on specific issues, as well as projects that equip schools to improve outcomes for their students. 

Professor Mansouri, the project’s leader, said ‘educational equity initiatives, like these pilot projects, are more important than ever. They bring real change and hope in what is a very difficult situation in much of Tunisia’. Further, Professor Mansouri, who is the UNESCO Chair in Comparative Research on Cultural Diversity and Social Justice, argues, ‘it is such a pivotal time globally for education’. Citing UNESCO research, he emphasised the urgency by contending, ‘projections show the devastating impact of COVID-19 on education; it’s estimated the basic literacy of 100 million children and young people is threatened and nearly quarter of a million children and young people will drop out of their studies completely as a result. It’s potentially devastating for the next generation’.

Voice of the Rural Child Poster advertising the new space for artistic and cultural practices

One of the project’s participants, Anis Saada, a teacher and founder of ‘Voice of the Rural Child’, an organisation that works to empower young people in rural areas, agrees. He contends much more help is needed to ‘enable us in our work to address these challenges’ that COVID-19 is posing to the educational chances of young people in rural Tunisia. Educational attainment in the country has been falling, particularly in regional areas, where distance intersects with poverty. His pilot project focussed on developing a group of rural children’s skills and well-being through creating resourced space for artistic and cultural practices – a vital addition to already marginalised communities during a pandemic.

YOUTH CLUBs Association, a project partner and organisation that works to help young people advocate for access to quality education, also highlights the impact of COVID-19 on educational equity. Mohamed Falfoul, founder and project participant, argues ‘one of the main fields that have been put to the test after the health sector is education’. Young people have been ‘not only deprived of their access to formal education but also to all sorts of extracurricular activities’, which, he argues, has led to ‘higher rates of mental health issues for young people, and increased school dropouts and family issues’. But, he emphasised, ‘trying to deploy an innovative solution to face the restrictions of COVID-19 and still deliver knowledge to students’ has been ‘complex’. The closures of educational institutions, lockdowns, nightly curfews, travel and other restrictions put in place as the government to stop the spread of the virus has brought its own challenges. He contends ‘critical thinking, creativity, and innovation’ have been essential to respond successfully. Skills he and his organisation have further developed in implementing their pilot project developing new youth clubs during the pandemic to offer opportunities to young people in the face on increased uncertainties about their educations and futures.

This capacity building initiative was partially supported by the Commonwealth through the Council for Australian-Arab Relations, which is part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

For further information, please contact:

Professor Fethi Mansouri

Email: fethi.mansouri@deakin.edu.au

Telephone: +61 3 924 43914

References:

Bouhlila DS (2021) ‘Education in Tunisia: Past progress, present decline and future challenges’, blog post, 25 March, Arab Barometer, https://www.arabbarometer.org/2021/03/education-in-tunisia-past-progress-present-decline-and-future-challenges/

UNESCO (2020) ‘UN Secretary-General warns of education catastrophe, pointing to UNESCO estimate of 24 million learners at risk of dropping out’, 5 August, UNESCO Press Release No.2020-73, UNESCO, https://en.unesco.org/news/secretary-general-warns-education-catastrophe-pointing-unesco-estimate-24-million-learners-risk

UNESCO (2021) ‘One year into COVID: prioritizing education recovery to avoid a generational catastrophe: Report of UNESCO online conference’, 29 March, UNESCO Report ED/ADG/2021/01, https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000376984