Institutions
In
2005-06, there were 178 public institutions of higher education among
which there were 13 universities; 24 instituts
supérieurs d’études technologiques
(higher institutes of technological studies), training midlevel
technicians; and 6 instituts
supérieurs de formation des maîtres (higher
institutes of teachers training). The remaining institutions are
subject-specific institutes that operate under the aegis of one of
the country’s universities. The Higher Education Ministry (HEM)
supervises 155 institutions and 23 are under the co-supervision of
the HEM and other ministries. In addition, HEM recognizes 20
university-level private institutions.
The number of
students enrolled in tertiary studies has been growing exponentially
since the early 1970s. In 1970, 10,000 students were attending
university. By 1990 that number had risen to 69,000, by 2000 to
207,000 and by 2005 to 327,000.
Admission
and Evaluation
Access
to postsecondary studies is guaranteed to all students holding the
Diplôme
du Baccalauréat.
The admission process is centrally controlled through the système
national d’orientation universitaire (national
university orientation system), which selects students based on an
algorithm that computes student preference, scores, program of
instruction at the secondary level, and the ministry-set quota for
each field of study and institution.
The system has been
criticized for a high level of rigidity and centralization that
leaves many students unsatisfied with the discipline into which they
have been placed. It has also been criticized for preventing students
the chance to change disciplines in the course of their studies.
Officials have been trying to address this problem, most recently
through the introduction of a credit-hour system aimed at greatly
increasing the intra-faculty mobility of students.
Because
the baccalauréat
examination acts as both a high school leaving examination and a
university entrance examination, pass rates are considerably lower
than for many other national school leaving examinations. On average,
60 percent of students fail the baccalauréat
each year.
The grading scale
used at universities is the same 20-point scale used in earlier
stages of the education system. In order to progress from one year to
the next, students must average at least 10 out of 20. If a student’s
scores in a majority of subjects are unsatisfactory he will be
required to retake the year. Most institutions allow students to
retake a year once in each cycle of their particular program. The
university dropout rate is very high, with approximately 45 percent
of all students beginning a first university program failing to
graduate.
About Tunisia 
