Tunisia posts 2008 Baccalaureate results

23/06/2008

The results of the Tunisian Baccalaureate have been posted, with a pass rate of 49.62%. Successful students are celebrating their good news, which many learned for the first time via SMS.

By Mona Yahia for Magharebia in Tunis – 23/06/08

[Mona Yahia] Successful baccalaureate candidates in Tunisia celebrated their success over the weekend. For the first time, some of them learned their exam results via SMS.

The success rate in the main round of Tunisia's baccalaureate exams this year was 49.62%, with a total of 74,817 students walking away with passing marks. The success rate among female candidates, at 51.55%, was slightly higher.

Speaking on Saturday (June 21st), the day the results were revealed, Tunisian Minister of Education Sadok Korbi noted that the overall success rate was expected to rise after the second round of examinations, scheduled to start on June 24th.

The Ministry of Education provided several ways for students to access their exam results, including the telephone, the internet and, for the first time, SMS messages sent to mobile phones.

"I just received an SMS telling me that I succeeded," student Nour Eddine Ouati told Magharebia. "This is a good and effective way to know the results, yet I will not deny myself the pleasure of going to school in person on Sunday in order to ascertain that my name is on the list of successful candidates."

Nour was far from alone: Over the weekend, the Tunisian capital was filled with groups of students seeking their exam results via mobile phone.

For those who successfully passed the exam, the good news was greeted with celebrations of success. Families throughout the country were seen playing music and distributing refreshments to neighbours and friends. A number of Tunisian newspapers advertised "Baccalaureate Night" soirées. TV and radio stations joined in the festivities by playing songs congratulating the successful candidates and awarding gifts to excellent students.

Successful students welcomed the change of pace.

"One must amuse oneself and spend a relaxing summer to make it up for the hard work during the year and to get ready for university, which will not be easier than the baccalaureate, where thinking about work would be the most important thing," student Doha told Magharebia.

This year's baccalaureate was the first to include changes to Tunisia's secondary school curriculum aimed at responding to the labour market, Education Minister Korbi said.

For the first time, exams were conducted in the media sciences division, where the success rate was 50%.

The success rate in the sciences division exceeded 62%. In experimental sciences, it was 72.5%. In math it was 71.43%, arts – 30%, economics and management – 48% and technological sciences – 53%.

The Ministry of Education said that 57,000 secondary education teachers were mobilised to monitor the exams and 12,000 teachers were used to grade the exams. The total cost of the 2008 baccalaureate exams came to 8.7 million dinars.