Technological sovereignty, a slogan without mathematicians

Tunisia’s push for artificial intelligence, a domestic digital industry and “technological sovereignty” faces a stark bottleneck: a rapid collapse in mathematical education, a report by the Tunisian Institute of Business Leaders (IACE) warns. Between 2001–2005 and 2021–2025 the share of Baccalaureate candidates in the mathematics track fell from 18% to just 6%, a threefold decline that the report describes as a “free fall.”

Direct quote

"This is not a pedagogical issue; it is an economic and strategic one," the report states, adding that "technological sovereignty is not decreed in a national strategy; it is built in a sixth-grade classroom." The report also highlights that "eight out of ten students are failing to achieve a passing grade."

Context and details

• The IACE report contrasts the math decline with a rise in non-scientific streams: the Economics & Management track grew from 20% to 33% of Baccalaureate students over the same twenty-year span, becoming the country's largest stream.
• Early-stage indicators are alarming. In the sixth-grade entrance examination for elite "pilot" middle schools in 2025—among the top 24% of the age cohort—81.2% of candidates failed to achieve an average passing grade in mathematics, and 15.6% scored zero, according to Education Ministry data cited by IACE.
• The report documents a territorial divide that undermines access to mathematical pathways. In Kasserine, nine of thirteen delegations offer no Mathematics section; in Sidi Bouzid eight of fourteen delegations lack the track; in Kairouan seven of thirteen delegations do not offer it. IACE stresses that many talented students abandon mathematics not by choice but because the track does not exist locally.
• IACE points to structural causes: a shrinking pool of mathematics teachers following the dismantling of recruitment mechanisms such as the CAPES system. The strongest candidates increasingly move toward perceived more lucrative sectors, leaving university math programmes under-resourced and teaching positions filled by those entering by default through orientation scoring rather than vocation.
• The economic stakes are quantified: World Bank simulations cited by IACE estimate that raising Tunisia's education quality to international standards could add approximately 1.4 percentage points to annual GDP growth. The report frames that gain against a backdrop where Tunisia struggles to secure around two percentage points of growth and carries public debt exceeding 80% of GDP.

Outlook

The IACE report frames the erosion of mathematical talent as a long-term strategic risk: engineers, researchers and data scientists needed for AI, cryptography, cybersecurity and quantitative fields will be in short supply a decade from now if current trends continue. The warning comes from the business community—employers who will need the skills the education system currently appears unable to produce. Reversing this trajectory would require rebuilding teacher recruitment, restoring access to math tracks across governorates, and reversing the shift of students away from foundational scientific disciplines—steps the report implies are prerequisites for any credible pursuit of technological sovereignty.