Sartex Training Center – Renaissance for Desperate Youth

Since its independence in 1956 – and thanks to the wisdom of the former leader President Habib Bourguiba – Tunisia has focused its recovery strategy on the implementation of an education that can generate a solid base of human capital that is able to meet the changing needs of a developing nation. In just a few years, the education of children aged 6 to 16 years has become compulsory and free – this small North African country allocates more than 25 percent of its state budget to education and teaching. In the years after independence until the late 1980s, the development of a socio-economic balance brought integration and employment through a professional training of rare trades – even for those who did not have access to higher education.

During the past three decades – and in the absence of a clear strategic vision –the Tunisian education system went through several structural reforms. These were often poorly studied and did nottaking into account the new social and economic conditions of the country. Today,Tunisia is confronted with a serioussocial phenomenon: namely, theschool dropout rate of youth withoutany professional qualifications and withlow academic levels. The 2012–2013school year illustrates this failure: thepremature dropping out of about 100,000students, including 10,000 in primaryschools – figures that have never beenseen in Tunisia since its independence.The number of school dropouts is increasingevery year. These disadvantagedyoung people are deprived of achance to have a proper life and riskbeing pushed to the margins of society.With no qualifications and no expertise,these young people will have verylow chances to participate in an activelife in a society that is still seeking toexpand its lifestyle, especially aftera revolution that deposed a corruptdictatorship. What will be the fate ofthese thousands of young people? Whatis our responsibility as industrialists?What can we do to save and protectthe youth against poverty, ignorance, and crime?

Each year, dozens of unemployed young Tunisians go looking for jobs in the clothingindustry. There is a strong demandfor skilled labor here, despite the fragilityof the sector and strong competition.These young people, mostly devoid ofall qualifications and diplomas, findthemselves unable to start a career andare often doomed to failure due to lackof experience and life skills.

SARTEX is a textile company based in the central region of Tunisia in the town of Ksar Hallal, which was proclaimed the Tunisian capital for textiles by former leader Bourguiba. Offering more than 3,300 direct jobs in the export industry,the SARTEX company is now among the leaders specialized in jeans and sportswear for reputable international brands in Europe, the United States, and Asia. Since its creation in 1983, SARTEX has been true to its values of citizenship and social responsibility. It is especially the youth and those condemned by the social and economic conditions of the country that SARTEX has been trying to help – by giving them a chance and new hope for an honorable life.

Believing in the capacity of youth and conscious of its responsibilities, SARTEX managed to monitor some of these young people by inviting them to register for free in its integrated training center, STC: Sartex Training Center. This helps them to learn a profession by developing their skills and knowledge about the basics regarding textiles, allowing them to earn a diploma that is recognized throughout Tunisia. The development of this expertise by SARTEX helps build a long-term labor pool. It encourages these young employees to become active and positive members of its organization who share its corporate culture and civic responsibilities as well as act positively in order to realize its strategic mission:

“To contribute to the sustainable development of the country, providing our customers with innovative, safe,
and attractive products and services, in a healthy environment and a motivating and empowering framework.” 
(Extract from the strategic mission of SARTEX)

The STC was established in July 2012 as part of a Tunisian-German cooperation – under a partnership agreement with the German organization Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) – and has aimed to strengthen its system and further enrich its educational programs. This investment of approximately € 1 million in human capital provides a program certified by international German and French experts that focuses on the development of technical skills and the continuous improvement of education.The training program is crowned with a Professional Competence Certificate (PCC), notarized by the ministry for employment, with whom SARTEX has an agreement for technical assistance in the regional center of textile and clothing, Ksar Hallal. The laureates of the PCC will continue their studies to obtain the Professional Technician Certificate.

After finishing their training program,all apprentices enrolled in the center areimmediately hired and integrated intothe production lines of SARTEX. Eachyear, the STC is committed to providetraining and employment for 250 youngpeople. Since its partnership with GIZbegan, 280 school dropouts have beenable to finish this training program andbe integrated directly into the productionlines at SARTEX. This project can alsomeet the needs of other industrial textilecompanies interested in and searchingfor qualified workers. During the trainingand employment of young people, SARTEXvouches for their rights and dutieswithin a compliant and legal frameworkthat is inspired by universal labor standardsand codes of conduct with respectto the rules of health, hygiene, and environment,in compliance with universalstandards of human rights. Since 2005SARTEX has been a pioneer in Tunisiain supporting the Ten Principles of theUnited Nations Global Compact. A greatfocus is given to these Principles in thetraining program. Our goal remains tochange youth who are considered bysociety to be worthless and unskilled intoqualified, creative, and innovative people.

Training, Evaluation, and ContinuousImprovement are the three strategicaxes of our integrated center, and onwhich its pedagogic program is based –all developed by national and internationalexperts as well as the managers ofSARTEX. The originality of the center alsolies in the involvement of young men ina profession that was historically meantfor women. So now, boys and girls haveequal opportunities to learn a trade,acquire the knowledge that was missedat school, and earn a job in a companythat is a leader in the sector.