The Future of Skills: Establishing a Competency Framework to Reduce Dropouts in Tunisia’s Vocational Training

Vocational training serves as a fundamental pillar of Tunisia’s socioeconomic landscape, supplying industries with skilled young talent. However, the sector currently battles a critical vulnerability: an alarmingly high dropout rate ranging between 15% and 30% annually across various training centers, according to the Tunisian Agency for Vocational Training (ATFP) benchmarks.

To address this challenge structurally, NOVATEQUE has released a new policy brief entitled “The Future of Skills: A Professional Framework for Defining Vocational Competencies.” The study offers a paradigm shift in how students are oriented, proposing objective, skill-based guidelines that match young trainees’ actual capabilities with their chosen professions.

The brief charts four distinct strategic pathways for policymakers, including the modernizing of regulatory laws, introducing flexible pedagogical standard curricula that give students early exposure to core fields, and implementing institutional evaluation tools to carefully track and curb dropout numbers. By involving trainees directly in their career pathways, Tunisia can maximize institutional efficiency and better align skills with evolving market demands.