Announcement of Thirteen Million Credit for Education in Tunisia on September 14, 1966

• INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION 1818 H STREET, N,.',N .. V,z . .t.._S_mi;-:GTON 0, C. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 IDA Press Release No. 66/17 Subject: $13 million credit for September 14, 1966 education in Tunisia The International Development Association (IDA), an affiliate of the World Bank, is extendi.n.g its second credit to Tunisia for educational facilities. The credit~ amounting to the equivalent of $13 million, will assist the further expansion of secondary education which is urgently needed to meet the shortage of trained man- power at the middle level, and to prepare a sufficient number of students for entry into universities. The project consists of the construction and equipping of 15 secondary schools and three agricultural training centers, as well as equipment for an additional 16 secondary schools. This will provide 19,700 new school places for • students; they will account for over 40% of the total new secondary school places called for under Tunisia's current Four-Year Plan. The equipment for the 16 schools will give better education and training facilities for a further 27,000 students. Following independence, the Tuni.sian Government drew up in 1958 a 10-year pro- gram to expand primary and secondary education; the program was well conceived and executed. Primary school enrollment more than doubled, to 717,000, and secondary school enrollment increased to 80,000. In 1962 IDA extended a credit of $5 million to finance urgent requirements for secondary schools under the program. With a view to the further financing of education in Tunisia, the World Bank at that time madf' a technical assistance grant of $375,000 for studies directed toward achieving econo- mies in school building costs and improvements in design. The adoption of standard~ arrived at by these studies has resulted in considerable economies and improvements in the construction and equipping of the schools now being financed by the IDA credi~ • Secondary education in Tunisia, following six years of primary school, extends over six years and is divided into two 3-year cycles. It also includes a special period of study, known as "college moyen", which is intended for those leaving  - 2 - primary school at a late age (14-17) and is of three years' duration. When the project being assisted by the IDA credit is fully implemented there will be about 4,600 additional pupils in college moyen, of whom about 1,000 will be in a gener&l course, 2,300 i.n industrial and 1,300 in commercial courses. In the first cycle of • secondary education the project provides for an additional 8,000 students: 800 will be in technical and 1,200 in economic courses; about 6,000 will be in a general course with a h1gh percentage in the first year on their way to specialization later in other fields of study. The second cycle will have about 6,000 additional stu- dents of whom almost 1,400 will be in a technical and 1,700 in a commercial course, with the remaining 2,900 pursuing courses in science, language or social studies. On completion of the second cycle some students will take an additional one-year teacher training course and others will proceed to university study. The three agri- cultural centers will be located in the districts of Kairouam, Cap Bon and Kasserine. They will acconnnodate a total of approximately 1,000 students for two years of train- ing essential~y practical in character. Under the project, boardi~g accomnodations ~ will be provided for 6,200 students, of whom 4,300 will be boys and 1,900 girls. The Four Year Plan also provides for staffing the schools. Because there are not yet enough qualified Tunisian teachers, expatriate teachers will continue to be required for some years. A recent decision taken by the Tunisian Ministry of Educa- tion to increase enrollment in the secondary teachers' training college, however, will shortly have its effect in making more Tunisian teachers available. The total cost of the project is estimated at the equivalent of $19,760,000. The IDA credit will cover about two-thirds of the total cost. Procurement will be on the basis of int~rnational competitive bidding. The IDA credit will be for a term of 50 years. Repayment of principal will begin in November 1976, after a 10-year period of grace. Thereafter, 1% of the principal will be repayable annually for 10 years and 3% will be repayable annually for the remaining 30 years. IDA's administrative costs. The credit will be free of interest but a service charge of 3/4 of 1% per annum on the amount withdrawn and outstanding will be made to me~t •