· The new statute suggested by the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education (May 2021), apart from the fact that it is not participative and has been prepared in locked offices is very dangerous. It does not respect the international standards of the binary Associate Professor/ Professor ranking for PhD holders among university teachers. Instead, the hybrid monster project of the Ministry suggests seven ranks plus one entrance competition to become a faculty member. More than that, it intends to add a new diploma after twelve years of career called the “Habilitation Universitaire” followed by another competition to access a higher category of ranking.
· In a nutshell, for a PhD holder among faculty members, the new statute, all in all, comprises two competitions, one more diploma other than the PhD and seven ranks with a file to prepare to move from one rank to another, a viva in front of a jury on the basis of non-scientific biased criteria such as involvement and openness before moving from one rank to another. This absurd statute favours nepotism rather than anything else; it discourages researchers and faculty members from promoting their careers via research since they are bound to subdue to get promotion.
· Worse than that, in an unprecedented move, the new ranking system suggested by the Minister, with all these competitions and files to prepare and handicaps, is appallingly without any financial promotion or salary increase which is stunning and unacceptable.
· The final extremely dangerous aberration in the new statute is that it opens the door to other faculty staff among non-PhD holders - via what the Ministry calls “common trunk” - to integrate the university teachers and researcher’s faculty members without any external competition closing, thus, the door in front of thousands of unemployed PhD holders to have a teaching position at the faculty.
· The new statue is atrocious, hybrid and catastrophic and there is absolutely nothing positive about it.
· No new statute would be accepted without financial incidences rewarding the passage from one rank to another.
· There must be an alignment and a respect of international ranking standards based on the binary of Associate Professor/Professor ranking with internal classes in-between valuing pedagogical experience without competitions.
· Today, there is a growing anger, fury and a total refusal on the part of university researchers and teachers against the Ministry’s project.
· Tunisian academics must struggle until the ministry’s project is abandoned and will engage into a series of social action and protests and strikes starting from a strike in May 20th, 2021 until the Ministry’s project is abolished. Any new statute must alleviate ranks, be aligned with international standards, and respect the spirit of promotion via research all along with the acknowledgement and recognition of pedagogical experience. Any new statute must also recognize the general claim of respecting the salary scale as the PhD is the highest diploma in Tunisia.
· It is worth mentioning that the salary of a Tunisian Associate Professor today is about 800 USD which is among the lowest in the world.
· Being a leader of an autonomous union for university teachers and researchers in Tunisia, I condemn the lack of proficiency and expertise of the current Minister Mrs Olfa Ben Ouda who has been continuously ignoring our correspondences to launch negotiations and who is executing the agenda of her benefactors from the nomenklatura, oligarchy and the UGTT union which is against syndicate plurality and democratic practices at university.
Dear professor
I would like to opine, but I do not know about your reality
Best regards
Ph.D. Ingrid del Valle García Carreño
Dear Professor,
I would rather refrain from commenting on a personalized arguement.
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