The education system of Tunisia has been put under pressure, due to political instability, the Covid-19 pandemic, high national debt, and an economic crisis worsened by the war in Ukraine. The pandemic resulted in interruptions of schooling for months at a time, leading to a drop in academic results for all learners, particularly the disadvantaged and marginalised. Economic conditions have led to a severe shortage of teachers, which impacts the quality and efficiency of learning. Further, the numbers of regular and irregular migrants have risen substantially since 2011. They are mainly among the most marginalised people in Tunisia, and the children of migrants are often outside the formal education system and lack learning opportunities. 

Following the political transformation in Tunisia in 2021, La Coalition Éducative Tunisienne (CET) aims to use the opportunity, to promote constructive dialogues between the government and civil society to develop and better the education system. CET will work to consolidate the right to education in the new constitution and strengthen the role of the Conseil Supérieur de l'Education. Ultimately, the project aims to reform educational programmes to combat violence, school dropouts, and regional inequalities, promoting equitable education for all pupils, including children of migrants. 

The project is building on the work implemented in a previous phase, between April 2022 – December 2023. The project will continue to focus on the educational problems of marginalised and impoverished groups, people with mental and physical disabilities, refugees and internally displaced persons who do not have access to appropriate learning facilities, and the children of legal and illegal migrants. During this phase, the project will work towards: 

• Institutionalising dialogues with the government, to make civil society a partner in educational policy making. 

• Build the capacity of Tunisian education CSOs for political dialogue and community mobilisation. 

• Contribute to concretise common perceptions to achieve inclusive education that supports equality and guarantees children of legal and illegal migrants their rights to education.  

• Support partnerships with regional and international leaders. 

To achieve these objectives, CET will organise four dialogue seminars with decision makers represented in government, parliament, political parties, and CSOs to discuss partnership opportunities. At the same time, two lobbying and advocacy campaigns will be conducted to demand representation of the coalition on joint committees concerning the right to education, in line with the strategy of strengthening social responsibility.  

The project will further take on a capacity building strategy, with the coalition taking responsibility for training 60 members of affiliated associations and other Tunisian CSOs in areas of policy dialogue, community mobilisation and leadership, to enable them to play their part in policy making by carrying out six training sessions covering dialogue techniques, pressure campaigns, advocacy, community mobilisation, and leadership. 

In order to maintain its regional and international presence, the coalition will strengthen its visibility and seek new partnerships in the field of realising the rights to education. 

A previous phase of the project was carried out between April 2022 – December 2023. The current project is part of the EOL extension phase of 2024-2026. Read more about the first phase of the project here.