Ambassador Walles with the team of ISET-Sfax administrators and teachers traveling to Cedar Rapids, Iowa next week to launch the new educational partnership. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Embassy Tunis)
This Press Release is from the Embassy of the United States Tunis, Tunisia
In a visit to Sfax on January 31, the American Ambassador to Tunisia Jacob Walles met with the Dean and department heads from ISET-Sfax (L’Institut Supérieur des Etudes Technologiques) to formally launch an educational partnership between the USA and ISET-Sfax. Through a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa will formalize a relationship with ISET-Sfax. This program is designed to encourage the exchange of knowledge about the important role of community colleges and the ISET system in educating students and finding employment for recent graduates.
The community college system in the U.S. was selected as a model for this partnership, because of the educational similarities with the ISET system in Tunisia. The community college system serves nearly half of the undergraduate students in the U.S. by providing affordable access to post-high school education as a method to encourage workforce development and skills training.
Through exchanges between Kirkwood Community College and ISET Sfax, the faculty and administrators will study how American community colleges create affordable and accessible education opportunities for students. They will also explore the educational and curriculum development models of the community college system to create partnerships with private sector businesses to train graduates for employment following their studies. The two partners will also work to strengthen pre-existing links between ISET-Sfax and businesses in Tunisia.
This is a continuation of efforts by the U.S. Embassy in Tunis to support Tunisia’s transition to democracy through educational partnerships with both universities and ISET institutions throughout Tunisia. The partnership with ISET-Sfax is one of six educational linkages to be launched this year between American and Tunisian educational institutions. These linkages will be complemented by the $10 million scholarship fund for students from ISETs and Tunisian universities to study for one-year at American community colleges, universities and technical schools.
The announcement was made during Ambassador Walles’ visit to Sfax to meet with local officials, and business, civil society and educational leaders. His visit included meetings with the Governor of Sfax, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Sfax, the Tunisian-American Chamber of Commerce, and students learning English through a U.S. government program providing scholarships for 200 students in Sfax. While in Sfax, the Ambassador also visited La Société de Conditionnement des Huiles d’Olives (CHO), a Sfax-based exporter of olive oil to the United States, to learn more about the CHO’s successful efforts to export Tunisian olive oil to over 2000 stores in the U.S. market.