The government of Tunisia has shut all universities and high schools in the country, pending further notification, in response to unrest over the weekend that left at least 14 protesters dead after the police fired into crowds in several cities, according to reports by the BBC News, Reuters, and RTT News. The education ministry announced the closures on Monday after students marched in the capital, Tunis, to protest against police violence. The ministry said it would await the findings of “an investigation to establish who was responsible for inciting students.” The weekend violence capped several days of protest over high unemployment in the North African nation. The unrest has mostly affected provincial towns, with Tunis largely unaffected, but there were reports of students joining demonstrations in the capital on Sunday and Monday. Young university graduates are among those hit hardest by Tunisia’s high unemployment rate, which is around 14 percent, and the government recently announced a $10-million jobs program to try to address the problem, according to RTT.
|
Previous Global Economic Crisis Continues to Hurt European Universities |
Next Australian Survey Finds Majority of International Students Feel Safe |
Tunisia Closes All Universities Following Weekend Violence
January 10, 2011, 9:48 pm
Confirm Your Email Address
You must confirm the email address associated with your account to use this Chronicle feature.
If you have already confirmed your account, try refreshing your browser.
E-mail a Friend


The Global Ticker: The Chronicle's global-news blog, with updates from our correspondents around the world.