Private Tutoring in Tunisia: A Financial Burden for Families

The support of private tutoring is no longer an option, but a financial test for Tunisian families. The cost of private lessons has become a significant burden on household finances, reaching record prices that border on the absurd in recent years.

In an interview with Jawhara FM radio, many parents describe a harsh reality: private tutoring has become a "fatal necessity" for families to hope to secure a coveted baccalaureate degree. Although aware of the exorbitant cost of these services, tutors claim they are forced to invest heavily to fill pedagogical gaps and ensure their children's academic progress.

Families Forced to Make Extreme Sacrifices

The field investigation reveals dramatic social situations. A mother of a family confessed to having had to sell her personal jewelry to finance her son's exam preparation. In this "critical period" where every hour of tutoring counts, she is outraged by the evolution of payment methods: tutors now demand payment by the week, not by the month, raising a fundamental question about the effectiveness of free education in Tunisia.

The situation is equally alarming for other families where the survival strategy relies on overwork or debt. An intervener reported the case of a mother, despite being in a precarious situation, who was forced to take on two jobs – morning and evening – to meet her daughter's academic needs. More worrying still, some heads of households are today considering taking out consumer loans to honor the parallel tuition fees of their children.

An Education System with Two Speeds

In the face of this inflation, the gap in opportunities is widening. While some parents take on debt, others have no choice but to give up. This is the case of a high school student who, aware of the financial fragility of his parents, has chosen to limit his academic support to only the most fundamental subjects.

This shift towards a privatization of academic success is transforming the Tunisian educational landscape, where the diploma increasingly depends on the ability of families to sacrifice their own financial stability.

Note: The original article highlights the growing financial burden of private tutoring on Tunisian families, the extreme sacrifices they are forced to make, and the widening gap in opportunities between those who can afford private tutoring and those who cannot. The article raises questions about the effectiveness of free education in Tunisia and the impact of this trend on the country's education system.