Preparatory Year Coverage Rate for 5-Year-Olds Reaches 94.8%
The coverage rate for the preparatory year for 5-year-old children has reached 94.8%, thanks to the concerted efforts of the Ministries of Education, Family, Women, Children, and the Elderly, as well as the Ministry of Religious Affairs. This was revealed by Hajer Khitali, General Inspector at the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
In an interview with the "Il se passe en Tunisie" program on National Radio on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, the official explained that these three ministries aim to target remote areas and generalize the preparatory year as part of a unified national strategy.
Key Points
- The efforts are coordinated between the various concerned entities to generalize the preparatory year, while allowing each structure to maintain its specificity.
- The inspector emphasized that efforts are ongoing to improve this rate, which she already considers "very respectable".
- The objective of this generalization is to strengthen children's skills while respecting their stage of development.
Enrollment in Quranic Schools
Regarding the back-to-school season in Quranic schools ("Kouttab"), the number of enrolled children is approximately 58,000, distributed across 2,143 establishments. The number of teachers ("mouaddib") is almost equal to the number of schools, according to Ms. El Khatali.
Female Teachers in Quranic Schools
The General Inspector highlighted that the percentage of female teachers is much higher than that of men. She considers this a positive point, as children at a young age benefit from a pedagogical approach enriched with a maternal dimension.
Preparatory Year and Preschool Programs
Hajer Khitali clarified that the program for the preparatory year for 5-year-old children is developed jointly by the aforementioned ministries, with each entity maintaining its own specificities.
She added that preschool classes for 4-year-old children are subject to a specific guide prepared by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, called the "Guide to Education in Kouttab".
