Boosts for vocational and business students

The biggest problem with vocational education in Tunisia was finding jobs for its graduates, and the government was going to try yet again to modernise the system to fit the needs of the economy, reported La Presse of Tunis. Meanwhile, a competitive initiative aiming to instil entrepreneurial skills in young people took place last week in Tunis.

Many young people with vocational qualifications were unemployed, especially in the country’s interior regions, said La Presse.

But the problem remained despite past attempts to reform the system, with the involvement of professionals who advised in training centres or through workplace experience.

The first step would be to carry out a diagnosis of the situation in vocational training centres, including their educational provision and methods of management and evaluation, to see how the specialisations taught were responding to the needs of the labour market, said La Presse.

About 50 centres would be restructured or created as part of a national strategy to 2025, with participation of specialists and professionals from different sectors, and international cooperation.

Specific units for graduate employment would be set up in the centres, which would work closely with the different vocational sectors and study market demands.

The programme would aim to train 1,600 technical and educational vocational trainers to improve standards, said La Presse. Cooperative agreements with professional organisations and businesses would be struck within a new partnership framework.

The state would also support the private vocational education sector and encourage collaboration with the public centres to improve standards and respond to employment needs in Tunisia and abroad. Private training establishments would be encouraged to set up centres in the interior regions where they were currently lacking.

Meanwhile, last week the Fifth Challenge Projet d’Entreprendre took place in Tunis, organised by two higher education institutions specialising in communications and business, the Ecole Supérieure des Communication de Tunis (Sup’Com) and the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Tunis.

The aims of the challenge included introducing students to entrepreneurship, and teaching them how to create a business, work in teams and manage a project. The week included tutorials, workshops, personalised advice centres, training in communication and an online resource and working area.

Teams of competing students were released from their usual studies to devise, plan and present a business creation project offering an innovative product or service based on information and communication technologies and sustainable development.

Mounir Frikha, director of Sup’Com, said 136 engineering students and about 50 students of management took part in the challenge, supervised by 29 national and international experts, 24 university lecturers and researchers, and about 10 language teachers. The selection juries included industrialists, bankers and business leaders.

* This article is drawn from local media. University World News cannot vouch for the accuracy of the original reports.