Tunis — The Tunis Planetarium (Cité des Science) hosted on Saturday a Maghrebi Conference on higher education reform.

Several Tunisian, Algerian Moroccan and European academics and experts took part in the event.

The conference is part of the academic co-operation program involving both shores of the Mediterranean dubbed "Tempus 4" program, which aims at promoting the employability of higher education graduates, by improving the quality of training, diversifying university branches and enhancing academic management.

Panels on academic and institutional partnership to ease the exchange of students, professors and researchers as well as training courses and scientific meetings, were also on the agenda of the conference.

Participants highlighted the need to strengthen Euro-Mediterranean co-operation so as to modernize the education systems in the region and adjust it to scientific progress and innovation.

In his opening address, Mr. Lazhar Bououni, Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Technology stressed the need to establish partnership with European universities as part of the Tempus program which encourages institutional co-operation and reform and which aims at modernizing higher education in the Maghreb.