Fostering Self-Competences in Tunisian Youth Centers (FOYER)

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Profile

Project leadership: Doris Kuhn (PHZH), Samir Boulos (PHZH)
Project team: Manuel Zolliker (PHZH), Luca Huder, Elyes Guermezi, Nada Najjar
Organisational unit: W-IB-UTL (Zentrum für Unterricht und transkulturelles Lernen)
Project phase: Completed (1.5.2024 – 31.10.2025)
Project type: Service project
Funding: Leading House MENA
Participating institutions: iiDebate

Description

Tunisia has experienced political and economic challenges in recent years, which have had a significant impact on its youth. The ongoing political transitions and economic uncertainties have created a pressing need to equip young people with competences that not only enhance their employability but also foster resilience in the face of adversity. The FOYER project seeks to explore how a program promoting self- and social competences in Tunisian youth centres can address these critical needs. Youth centres play an important role in fostering personal growth, social integration, and they are crucial for non-formal education of young people in Tunisia.

The FOYER project consists of two components:

An educational intervention in the Jedaida Youth Centre in Manouba.
A research study examining the impact of this intervention on the stakeholders in the youth centre.

The Jedaida Youth Centre is considered as pilot institution and the research findings will serve to adapt the educational program for further youth centers. The educational intervention comprises two crucial elements. On the one hand, the educators’ and social workers’ capacities are enhanced to provide life skills activities in their youth centre. On the other hand, the FOYER project provides the trainers of the Jedaida Youth Centre with an educational program to raise the self-awareness and social competences of the young people. The research component of this project examines the impact of the educational intervention on the self-awareness, social competences, and social inclusion of a core group of young people in the Jedaida Youth Centre. It thereby identifies the crucial elements of a self- and social competences training program for educators in youth centres.

The findings of the research serve to develop a robust model of good practice in this field. The FOYER project hence provides the basis that allows the scaling up of the developed and improved educational program that supports young people in youth centres in Tunisia. FOYER is a project of the Department for International Projects in Education.

News about the project

Project FOYERExchange on youth work in Tunisia and Switzerland

A delegation from Tunisia visited PH Zurich last week to exchange approaches on youth work and the development of self-competences. Kenza and Emna from Tunisia and Laura from Switzerland report on their experiences.

Project outcomes

The FOYER project has had a profound and lasting impact on both young people and the clubs at the Jedaida Youth Centre. Through a series of training courses, practical workshops, brainstorming sessions and collaborative work, participants have built their self-confidence and developed essential skills in communication, leadership, creativity, teamwork and critical thinking, while improving their ability to take initiative and understand their role in the community.

Specific implementation of competences

The project also encouraged active collaboration between the clubs, enabling them to identify the youth centre’s challenges and create a more inclusive and participatory environment. Young people were able to apply what they had learnt through concrete projects, notably in the national Tounsi w Nghayer competition, in which they won three prizes, including first prize for excellence. This demonstrates the remarkable development of their skills and commitment.

A documentary film by Ghassan Nahili from the TV Club of the Jedaida Youth Centre about the progress and challenges of the FOYER Project.

The capacities of educators and facilitators were strengthened by introducing innovative and replicable pedagogical approaches through the FOYER manual (Kutayib). An Arabic translation of the Kutayib is intended to make it accessible in a Tunisian context. The English version of the Kutayib is available free of charge as a MOOC on the Open ILIAS platform of the Zurich University of Teacher Education.

Another documentary film by Ghassan Nahili about the results of FOYER and reflections from young people.

Follow up project

As part of a follow-up project, the project partners are exploring the opportunity to implement the project results in further youth centres and in student clubs at universities. This will include aspects of future skills, such as digital skills and competences for sustainable development. Additionally, cooperation with local universities is planned, for example by offering an extended FOYER programme to student clubs for their extracurricular activities, or integrating it into key modules in the curriculum to enhance students’ transversal skills and employability.