In order to develop the quality of education and to promote research and innovation, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is working to lay the foundations for positioning Tunisia as a centre of higher education and scientific research at international and regional level.
The main measures to achieve this were outlined by the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Mondher Belaid, at a forum on the internationalisation of the higher education system in Tunisia, which took place on 14 and 15 November.
Speaking at the forum, Belaid said: “The international openness of higher education has become a topic of great importance to universities and research systems throughout the world, as there is a consensus on its benefits, whether in terms of developing the quality of education or enhancing research and innovation.”
He indicated that “the ministry is working to lay the foundations for positioning Tunisia as a selected and distinguished university and scientific destination at international and regional levels based on its important competitive advantages in the field”.
Belaid said the strategy “takes into account the specificity of the national context and makes international openness a means of achieving the main tasks of Tunisian universities, which are to provide a high level of teaching and learning that will ensure high employability while providing good environment for effective scientific research that is consistent with the needs of the labour market and compatible with new forms of professions”.
Belaid said the international openness strategy is based, in part, on attracting international students to study in Tunisia and providing more scope for the mobility of Tunisian students.
According to a 2024 study on international students in the Arab World, Tunisia ranked first, followed by Algeria, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi Arabia among Arab countries hosting international students in their educational institutions.
The total number of mobile Tunisian students abroad is 23,704, according to the UNESCO report, Global Flow of Tertiary-Level Students.
The Tunisian internationalisation strategy will also focus on formulating joint programmes between Tunisian universities and their international and regional counterparts, and strengthen international partnerships in scientific research.
Tunisia is a moderate performer in terms of its knowledge infrastructure, as it ranks 75th out of 123 countries in the Global Knowledge Index (GKI) 2021, which measures knowledge performance worldwide, using seven main sectoral indices, including higher education alongside research, development and innovation.
TunisianMonitorOnline (NejiMed)
