UNESCO. General Conference; 30th; Records ... - unesdoc - Unesco

(32.1) Mr ZOUARI (Tunisia) (Translation from the Arabic):
Madam President, Mr Chairperson of the Executive Board, Mr Director-General, distinguished delegates,
on behalf of the Tunisian delegation I have the honour to offer you, Madam President, congratulations on your
election as President of this Conference and best wishes for success in conducting its work. I also have the
privilege of expressing heartfelt thanks to the Chairperson of the Executive Board and the Director-General for the
admirable clarifications they have provided. Furthermore, I should like to mention the important role played by
Mr Federico Mayor during his term of office as Director-General of our Organization, and his tireless efforts in
implementing its programmes.
(32.2) Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the standard-setting principles and values set forth in the
Constitution of this Organization and the experience acquired over past decades have led the international
community to look to it for leadership in matters that are at the forefront of that community’s concerns. The rapid
and sometimes disconcerting changes that the world has recently witnessed have led to the emergence of real issues
which cannot be ignored. Consideration of this Organization’s action since its founding shows clearly that it has
been characterized by integration and creative interaction between the standard-setting principles informing its
mandate and the international community’s projects and programmes, dictated as they are by the changing situation
of the world’s peoples. In my view, UNESCO has succeeded in reconciling new situations and needs with the
imperatives of its mission and fidelity to its lofty ideals. UNESCO is concerned above all with promoting the
welfare of humanity, both humanity as a whole and its various members individually. Accordingly, the
Organization’s work has been set in an operational framework that rests simultaneously on excellent preventive
measures and the imperatives of ethical action. Its preventive work is illustrated by its reliance on education,
culture and science, and, in a word, every means of combating ignorance, while its ethical action has helped to
protect humanity from falling victim to the achievements of its own science and technology.
(32.3) Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Tunisia joined the Organization as soon as it became
independent, in 1956, and since that time it has never ceased to participate in its activity, believing as it does in
UNESCO’s mission and its lofty ideals. Tunisia also believes in the common future of humanity and is faithful to
the values of tolerance and openness that have marked its history. In my delegation’s view, reliance on humanity
can only mean proceeding along lines that ennoble humanity, in terms of its receptiveness to education and cultural
enrichment, and its ability to act judiciously with respect to its conditions of existence. I am persuaded that school
constitutes the ideal space in which to build the future, and consequently Tunisia has placed its hopes on education,
assigning it high priority and allocating 6.3% of its gross domestic product and one fourth of the State’s operating
budget to the educational field. This is a very substantial effort, not only in terms of the country’s resources, but
even by comparison with the advanced countries. Tunisia’s education system is based on the principles of
democracy in education and the right of all to be educated on a footing of equality, none being specially favoured,
and none being excluded. Education is compulsory from the age of 6 to the age of 16, and it is free. Moreover, the
State provides economically disadvantaged pupils with all the books and school supplies they need. The results of
this policy have been plain to see, especially in the present decade: 99.1% of all 6-year-olds attend school, and as
many of them are girls as boys. It may fairly be said that the Declaration on Education for All which UNESCO
adopted in Jomtien in 1990 has become a tangible reality in Tunisia. As regards literacy programmes and
programmes for persons with special needs, Tunisia has turned into an “education society” – in fact, to use
UNESCO’s own term, a lifelong education society. The challenge facing us now is how to advance from the right
to education to the right to success, i.e. to progress from quantitative democracy to qualitative democracy. What we
aspire to is schools for all in which each individual has his or her share, schools that will keep up with the pace of
change and thereby foster young people’s ability to function and acclimatize them to the requirements of the
vocations of the future in a world that must expect to experience radical changes in forms of production and work.
That is why, in the future, no pupil will leave school until he or she has reached the age of 16, and until he or she
has acquired adequate skills. To that end, vocational schools have been established.
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