Yet another "oldie". First published in January of 2011 as a note on fb: and I chose to post it unedited.The state of the Tunisian school has not changed since then so the issues raised are pretty much still relevant.
During a recent discussion with a French friend of mine about the responsibility of the colonial powers regarding the deteriorating situation (economical failures, wars...) in their African ex-colonies and especially in Tunisia. The Marking point was when this was brought up: “If you don’t like the way it is… Then do your own revolution just like we did ours”
In this piece of mind I’ll try to explore the impressive ''tolerance'' of the Tunisian People when it comes to issues of human rights and freedoms. As this topic is general and too complex and will require books to be treated fully. I will try to demonstrate the role education plays in creating these same students that will become receiving and inactive adults in matters of public interest.
It Has to be said that right after the Independence in 1956 education was a major part of the political official program of the new president( for life) Mr. Bourgiba. A huge number of schools was built( compared to other African Countries because we only compare with them, not with Norway or Germany..). As a continuation of that program there was 178 higher education institutes by 2006( a good number for a 10million in p.). Primary Schools are present in about every big street of the cities and rural areas are also quite covered.
Given these facts the Tunisian government has always been calming its incredible success in education always waiving statistics that place us above other Arab or African countries. Always mentioning the number of students unrolled in these establishment(1/5 of the population attends a public educational institution).
The Only thing that the government seems to forget while drawing this pink picture is that not only the walls of these schools and their height matters but Also what's in them.
Trying to ''mimic'' a French system that is judged as ''too rigid'' by the European commission. Here is another interesting piece too: ''Soumitra Dutta, professor of business and technology at INSEAD business school in Paris"French schools have become masters in destroying confidence. They take a child and pummel them, insisting that they copy word-for-word what the teacher has written on the blackboard,"
Given also that France has France is mentioned as having an unemployment rate above the European Union average : it is 19,4 % vs 15,4 %.
That gives an Idea of the Model we trying to achieve!
A Tunisian teacher has unlimited powers in class: Primary teachers abuse the weak composition and the young age of their students to use ''the stick'' to beat them in inhuman and disgracing public torture that makes the school a frightening place( as any place where the possibility of torture is present). The secondary teachers not having the physical abuse option( students are able to defend themselves) use other means like the unrestricted right to exclude any student they want, the right to put warnings in academic files without serious investigation by a third party and also the right to mark you as they Please( which gives them horrible powers they almost never fail to use). Sexual assault is also present and mainly conducted towards female students, this practice is growing protected by the school laws( that make it extremely hard for a student to plead their case mainly because the body responsible for these decision is constituted only of teachers and no students are represented and also because of the general social trend to ''keep it down''). I personally have witnessed numerous cases and if you are a Tunisian student you must remember a scene where the explanation to the girls went ''really'' close. The format itself is a factor as a typical day starts at 8am and in many cases finishes at 6pm. A day with 8 hours of classes is not rare( it is agreed that a human has the right to work no more than 8 hours, given the fact that these are not even adults and that they are inflicted painful homework means that this is actually an infraction of a basic human right: not to be over-exploited). Than the curriculum that neglects humane sciences and Arts( repetitive boring lessons, unqualified teachers, inadequate materials..) that imposes that one religion be taught( islamic education) and that pushes the student to the limit of the human capacity(2 hours of math without brake abundant in timetables). The Last of the Factors is the Pedagogy followed where the student is obliged to copy pages dictated by the teacher sitting on a desk or writing on the board and where the answer in tests has to be identical with the copied material( even in questions starting'' in your own opinion'').
All of these components and many others make the Graduated pupil a machine that is really performing in copying( in other countries, Tunisian educational goals would be qualified as plagiarism!). On the other hand creativity is slaughtered at a very early stage( if the stick is not enough than maybe the exclusion from classes will do). The student is a ''copy'' of all other students academically and extracurricular activities are rare( regular sports activity is almost impossible..). Besides this conformism the Students are unable to organize and group work on issues of real life, they are ''scared'' and almost never confident. Some even suffer disorders( because of torture, sexual assault, verbal violence). They are all reluctant of any form of authority but fear( even unjustified) makes it impossible for them to demand their rights. I know this judgment can be considered harsh by many but I'm sorry ,the character described above corresponds with the attributes to a ''exemplary'' Slave-behavior.
Now for all these who still can defend the corrupted educational system( or the chicken factory) I say that the last events( graduates burning themselves!) is enough of a response . At the End I have to acknowledge that there is still good teachers and that there exists ''free-student'' but I tried to describe general patterns according to my experience.
France statistics according to: Inclusion and education in European countries(INTMEASReportforcontract–2007‐2094/001TRA‐TRSPOFinal report: 4. France)
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