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The Tunisian education system has long been under both
French and Islamic influence. It is 11-year compulsory
school for anyone from 6 years. The primary school is
divided into 6-year primary school and 3-year secondary
school. The language of instruction is mainly Arabic, but
French is also used in teaching. The high school is 4 years
(2 + 2). There are 107 public higher education institutions,
including seven universities. According to UNESCO, approx.
27% (2002) of the adult population are illiterate. Check topschoolsintheusa for test centers of ACT, SAT, and GRE as well high schools in the country of Tunisia.
Islamism
In the 1970s and 1980s, a considerable Islamist
opposition emerged in Tunisia, as in other parts of North
Africa. It was first organized in the Mouvement de
tendance islamique (MTI), with Rachid Ghannouchi as the
lead author. The movement defied a state based on Islam and
rejected the secular community Tunisia had become under
Bourguiba. During the 1980s, several thousand members were
arrested, including after the MTI was accused of planning a
takeover of power with support from Iran. The political
persecution of the movement was stepped up following
terrorist attacks against tourist hotels in Sousse and
Monastir in the fall of 1987. In 2002, a synagogue
was Djerba bombed.
At the 1989 election, MTI tried to participate under the
name Ennahda, but was not approved. The movement
nonetheless asked independent candidates, who achieved
around 15 percent support. RCD got all the seats in
parliament. Ghannouchi then traveled in exile, returning
first to Tunisia in 2011. Through the election, Ennahda
assumed the position of leading opposition power.
In 1995 the group Front Islam Islamic Tunisia
(FIT) appeared. Later, several Islamist groups have emerged
in Tunisia, including Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia
(AST). Katibat Uqba ibn Nafi (KUIN) is a breakaway
group from al-Qaeda in Maghreb (AQIM); Jund
al-Khilafah-Tunisia (JAK-T) is affiliated with the
Islamic State (IS). None of these have established a
foothold that has made them real threats to the Tunisian
state. However, Tunisia has received significant military
assistance from the United States to fight Islamists,
including in military operations.
The rise of militant Islamism in the Middle East,
including al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, attracted
jihadists from a number of countries. The recruitment from
Tunisia to these groups, and to their warfare in Iraq and
Syria, has been relatively higher than from most other
countries. Islamic terror has also hit Tunisia, including an
attack on the Bardo Museum in Tunis in February 2015, and
against tourists on the beach in Sousse in June of that
year. Fear of new attacks was particularly linked to the
security situation in neighboring Libya; The perpetrators of
both attacks in 2015 probably received training there.
Tunisia announced in July 2015 that a 160-kilometer security
wall would be built along the border with Libya as a
counter-terrorism measure.
Social problems, poverty and unemployment in the
geographically and politically more peripheral part of the
country have contributed significantly to radicalization and
recruitment to Islamist groups. This is particularly true of
areas along the borders of Libya in the southeast and
Algeria in the west.
Rebellion
In December 2010, popular protests broke out in large
parts of Tunisia. The rebellion originated in political,
economic and social conditions. High unemployment,
especially among young people, and increased prices,
especially for food, were triggering causes. Under this was
opposition to a hated regime and demands for democratization
- and that President Ben Ali had to leave.
Despite Tunisia being a - on an Arab scale - secular and
liberal country with significant economic growth, the regime
was perceived as increasingly authoritarian and corrupt. At
the same time, political rights were curtailed. Tunisia was
criticized by several teams for human rights violations from
the late 1990s, and doubts were raised about how free and
fair the 2009 elections were.
The riot started with protests in the small town of Sidi
Bouzid on December 17, 2010, when a young vegetable vendor,
Mohamed Bouazizi, set fire to himself after being humiliated
by police. He later died from the injuries. From there, the
rebellion spread to large parts of the country. The
rebellion in Tunisia, also known as the "jasmine
revolution", triggered what was then known as the Arab
Spring.
The president's promises of further democratization and
social reform, and that he himself would not run for
re-election in 2014, were rejected by those who protested.
On January 14, 2011, the state of emergency was introduced
and the government dissolved; new elections were announced
within six months. The uprising was intensified as a result
of the authorities' handling, with the use of police and
security forces. Various numbers are pending on how many
were killed; Some sources state numbers above 300. The
Tunisian defense refused to take action against the
protesters, which eventually led to the resignation of
President Ben Ali. After first responding to the protests of
the state of emergency, the president and his family were
forced to leave Tunisia in January 2011 and went into exile
in Saudi Arabia. He was tried in 2011 in absentia and
sentenced to 35 years in prison for theft of state property,
then life imprisonment for participating in the
assassination of protesters. |
