THAMM Nicolle Disc Paper Final Draft 02072021 Cleared.docx

If we now consider the European destination countries for North African students, we see that France is by far the preferred country for Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian students – due to their shared history and language. France is the preferred country for Tunisian students wishing to pursue their studies abroad: Tunisian doctoral students represented 18.3% of foreign students enrolled in doctoral programmes in French universities in 2017. Tunisia was one of the most represented countries among foreign students in France with 12,390 students. It is in 4th position after Morocco (11.7%), China (8.9%) and Algeria (8.1%), according to the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation.

International students and highly skilled migrants from North Africa

In a context of globalization and increased mobility of skilled workers, the demand for technical skills and qualifications – particularly in the engineering, new technologies and services sectors and more substantially in the healthcare sector – is constantly growing. This reality has accelerated and modified existing dynamics in tertiary and higher education, as well as in the migration of skilled workers from North Africa to Europe. On the educational side, the geographical and cultural proximity as well as the advantage of an accessible French-speaking education make French universities an opportunity to plan a career abroad or back in North Africa for many young Moroccans, Algerians and Tunisians; by contrast, Egyptians largely attend universities in Egypt and might only migrate for their first employment or post-graduate education to Europe (Italy, France, Germany), the UK, or North America. The chart below shows the dynamics over the last decade, with a doubling of the number of first permits issued for education reasons between 2010 (17,500) and 2019 (35,000). If we disaggregate these data by country of origin, we see that Morocco provides about 50% of the contingents, Algeria and Tunisia more than 20% each and Egypt a little more than 5%.

Table 2: Countries of origin of North African students in France (Source : MESRI-DGESIP 2017)

International Rank

Academic year 2017

Students

percentage

Morocco

38,002

12%

1

Algeria

26,116

8%

3

Tunisia

12,390

4%

4

Other African countries

69,257

21%

323,933

TOTAL (World)

The long-standing relationship between France and the three countries explains the virulence of the reaction sparked in November 2018 by the French government's strategy to attract new foreign students to France - "Welcome to France." This strategy indiscriminately focused on: 1) improved visa and scholarship policy for foreign students, and 2) a significant increase in tuition for non-European students. On both sides of the Mediterranean, universities and academic centers immediately criticized the reform and some French universities even refused to apply it to African and North African students: ‘This purely bureaucratic reform, taken from Paris, was misunderstood because it broke with a tradition of dialogue and partnership. Beyond the unfortunate political or diplomatic episode, the reaction shows the importance of educational and academic exchanges between France and the Maghreb countries.’ 63

Figure 15: First permits issued for education reasons by citizenship (2010- 2019 North Africa, including Egypt and Libya)

40 000

35 000

30 000

25 000

20 000

15 000

10 000

5 000

0

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Morocco Algeria Tunisia

63 Key Informant Interview, Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur, de la Recherche et de l’Innovation, Paris, May 2021.

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