Tunis — President of the Republic Kaïs Saïed Monday chaired in Carthage a ceremony marking Knowledge Day, in the presence of the Prime Minister, government members, senior state officials and distinguished pupils and students and their families.
Addressing attendees, the Head of State laid emphasis on the symbolic significance of this day. Knowledge, he said, must benefit the entire national community.
He also congratulated distinguished pupils and students and their families as well as the teaching staff.
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The President outlined education reforms undertaken since the 19th Century and underlined the will to forge ahead with this process in response to the aspirations of the Tunisian people.
President Saïed announced, in this vein, the establishment of the Higher Council of Education- the sole and unique constitutionalised institution whose members had been designated.
The council had embarked on its works this very same day with the mission of introducing objective reforms away from political calculations and short-term turbulences, the President added.
Likewise, he advocated for a national, democratic and universal education system, saying compulsory education must extend beyond the age of sixteen.
Ambitious educational projects will be announced as soon as conditions for their success are provided, the Head of State added.
The President called for transforming schools into living cultural spaces featuring film, theatre and calligraphy clubs to elevate public taste and nurture national belonging.
Commenting on the expansion of drug trafficking, the President said there is need for school awareness sessions on the dangers of this phenomenon and awareness slots in public media.
In this connection, he poinpointed networks of corruption and mercenary networks funded at home and abroad which seek at all costs to destabilise society.
President Saïed firmly rejected externally imposed educational reforms, decrying past interferences which significantly altered the national character of education.
"No to foreign diktats. Our education system is designed in line with the will of the Tunisian people," the President highlighted.
The Head of State was critical of architectural deficiencies and the lack of cultural spaces in several schools. He said, in this context, there is intention to set up a centre dedicated to calligraphy.
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Ministries of culture and youth need to to make sure schools are spaces capable of building a society of knowledge and culture.
Challenges are certainly huge but collective resolve is enough to overcome them so as to make of Tunisia a destination not only for Tunisians.
