Fait religieux et enseignement de l’histoire en Tunisie : le model « charfien » à l’épreuve de la Révolution

Paradoxical as it may seem, the Tunisian education system has not come under considerable debate in the context of the cultural struggle that has characterized the post-revolutionary transition. The Tunisian history schoolbooks have remained unchanged and continue to bear the mark of the reform carried out by Mohammed Charfi in 1991. There have been proposals and attempts to reform education, but the spirit of the system established by Charfi was not called into question. The only major exception to this did not concern directly school curricula but was represented by the article on education in the new Constitution, which triggered heated public discussion. This essay analyses the reform launched by Charfi, outlines the role played by religion in Tunisian history textbooks and finally focuses on the education issue in post-revolutionary debates.