“Tunisian education is memory-based learning – we are trying to teach new skills”

One of the most theatrical fields in Tunisia is the education system. It is memory-based learning and education is defined by how much you can memorise to pass your test. 

Unfortunately, there are no activities or interests to use the creativity of students or increase their soft skills, which hugely affect their professional life later on and increase the unemployment rate in the country. 

Most of the Tunisian high schools do not really cover extra activities because the education system doesn’t make it mandatory – and that’s a killer for the students’ social life. 

I am a young leader trying to boost the Tunisian education system. Since the 2011 revolution, many young leaders are being more involved in civil society and decision-making processes in Tunisia. 

I am a Global Youth Ambassador campaigning for education and an education advocate with many international organisations. I have been working on implementing solutions to include activities and projects, which the Ministry of Education currently does not mention in its policies and has not done for years. 

As a United Nations panelist focusing on Sustainable Development Goals and getting invited many times to the Social Good Summit, I believe that a quality education is an important way to create a sustainable development. 

I launched a movement in Tunisia in 2017 called Lamma Events, which I created with my two computer science teachers, Anis Ammar and Wahbi Karoui, to target secondary and high schools students, help them to work on their social life and teach them how to learn new skills. 

Lamma Events is a national act to support the rights of Tunisian students. Lamma Technologique – which translates as a which translates as a technological gathering – was an event we hosted this year, which changed the lives of 100 students. 

At secondary schools, Tunisian students staying on for four years have a choice between following an academic or a technical track. 

For the first two years, they stay with a common academic curriculum. After that, academic students may follow one of five specialisations, while others complete their final two years in a more vocational environment. 

Last year I visited my high school, Marsa Riadh High School, where I graduated and received the National Baccalaureate Diploma in Computer Sciences. We organised a Lamma Technologique.

The event was attended by the whole school because the director allowed us to reserve a day for the event. One of the objectives was to orientate students and give them more information about the fields of computer science and technology to increase uptake of these courses but also to teach students coding. 

The event was open to all students and they listened to speakers, attended workshops and took part in panel discussions with the Ministry of Education. 

We made many partnerships between the government, the private sector and civil society. The event was in partnership with many local and international NGOs.

Afterwards, 100 students decided to choose computer science as a field of study while being accompanied and coached by the co-founders of Lamma Events, Anis Ammar and Wahbi Karoui. The organisations MentorsNations and Sciencia also decided to provide more workshops in order to help and motivate students in their careers.

The National Director of ِComputers Sciences Coordinators for Tunisian schools, Basma Tounsi, also attended the event to be a panelist. She answered questions and was engaged in discussion between the government, teachers and students.