We are excited to announce the commencement of the ACCESS International Conference and Summer School Tunisia 2024. Hosted by the University of Tunis, this five-day event brings together all African Centre for Career Enhancement and Skills Support (ACCESS) partners and our esteemed sponsor, DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service).
In his welcome address, Prof. Dr. Utz Dornberger (Leipzig University) shared the exciting news that the ACCESS consortium has received approval for the ACCESS 2.0 phase, set to begin in 2025.
Our first keynote speaker, Mr. Sherif Azab-Els, Program Manager of the Exceed Program at DAAD, delivered an insightful talk on “The Importance of Employability from the DAAD Perspective.” He congratulated the ACCESS partners on their successful project implementation and achievements, highlighting the additional grants secured to expand the project’s objectives. Mr. Azab-Els emphasised DAAD’s commitment to enhancing graduates’ employability worldwide, aligning with the United Nations SDGs agenda for 2030. He praised the unique collaboration within the ACCESS project, which leverages regional contexts in Africa and fosters joint knowledge development among universities and partners.
The conference was honored by the presence of Prof. Dr. Hakim Ben Hammouda, former Minister of Finance and President of the Gi4T Think Tank, Tunis, Tunisia. As the second keynote speaker, he addressed “The Challenges of African Development in the Context of Geo-economics and Globalisation Crisis.” Prof. Dr. Hammouda discussed the degradation of Africa’s economic growth, macroeconomic challenges, political instability, climate change impacts, and global economic disruptions. Despite these challenges, he expressed optimism about the slow movement of globalisation.
Professor Dr. Adesina Olutayo, the third keynote speaker, tackled the high unemployment rate in Africa, questioning the societal mindset towards employment. He stressed the importance of societal roles in addressing unemployment and critiqued the preference for white-collar jobs over other forms of employment. Prof. Olutayo also highlighted the pressure on graduates due to societal dependence and called for a concerted effort by governments and educational institutions to address these issues.
As the last keynote speaker, Professor Imed Melliti of Higher Education at the Higher Institute of Human Sciences of Tunis (University of Tunis El Manar), is also the President of the International Association of French-speaking Sociologists (AISLF).
Imed Melliti`s research focus is specifically his sociological and anthropologist analysis of youth, feelings of injustice, and moral economies.
His central message:
Massification of high education generally leads to a decline in the quality of education. Graduates who are unemployed and waiting for a job pursue post-graduate studies, what we can call a “transitional employment phenomenon.” This takes the form either of career shifts or downgrading. According to World Bank figures, men tend more towards career changes, while women tend more towards downgrading. In terms of impact, this has a high cost on identity levels. Additionally, these post-graduate training programs require investments without guarantees. “As a result, graduates are led to accept the non-market value of their degrees.” “Qualitative examples show that young people do not trust the system and its employment support tools (their effectiveness and transparency).”