Precious testimonies were presented, Friday, as part of a meeting-debate entitled “Sadiki college: 150 years”, organized, at the Kram exhibition center, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of this establishment, cradle of the Tunisian elites and major actor of modernity (1875-2025).
University, researchers and intellectuals were present at the Tunis International Book Fair during this meeting which offered a framework for debates and sharing on the prestigious educational institution and its contribution of Sadikian education in contemporary Tunisia.
During the inaugural session, Chedly Ben Younes, lawyer and famous producer of national television and radio programs, spoke of the high symbolism of this meeting on the occasion of the wire, which offers a framework for collective reflection on the history and future of the Sadiki college which owes its creation, in 1875, to the Tunisian reformer and politician of Circassian origin, Kheireddine Pacha (1822/1823-1890, Istanbul) renowned for its great culture and its master of several languages.
Many modern Tunisian statesmen have studied at Sadiki college, a leading education establishment in the contemporary history of Tunisia, the foundation of which is “the culmination of a reformist vision combining Arab-Islamic identity and openness to modern knowledge,” he said.
For his part, Mohieddine Mabrouk, professor of law, largely addressed the history of the School by lingering on the major work of its founder Kheireddine Pacha and later, Mohamed Attya which he describes as the “Savior” of the establishment. Much more than a traditional teaching establishment, Kheireddine Pasha rather wanted to create a civil illumination project, he explained.
With regard to Mohammed Attya, the first Tunisian principal of the Sadiki college during the postcolonial period, the speaker recalled Attyya’s actions in favor of the college which was the target of attempts at its “dissolution”, referring to its reforms for the rehabilitation of the Arabic language, -at the time, long marginalized in favor of French and Italian- Teaching manuals at Sadiki College
Sadiki college: from Kheireddine Pasha to Mohamed Attya
Mohieddine Mabrouk said that “Sadiki college would not have existed without Keireddine and would not have continued without Mohammed Attia: the first had laid the foundations and the second had saved him attempts, especially during the period of colonialism, to remove his educational vocation by integrating it into French institutions.
He returned to the history of the college which since its foundation in 1875, was a precursor of modern education which gave teaching lessons in mathematics, physics and chemistry, in French and Italian as well as in Turkish. Under the Husseinite dynasty and under the personal supervision of Kheireddine Pacha, Sadiki was one of the first schools to organize official exams in the government palace itself.
During a visit to college in 1883, the resident general of France, Paul Cambon, was impressed by the quality of teaching at the college which he described in a report in which he praised the college as “first school of secondary education in the world at the time”.
Mabrouk also talked about the major role of Mohamed Attya in the progressive integration of Sadiki education in national training programs. During his mandate, the graduates of the Sadiki college were part of the intellectual elite which contributed, after independence, to the establishment of higher education and national institutions.
The academician pleaded for the rehabilitation of the role of this prestigious school starting from conviction that it constitutes an intellectual and educational model inspiring for the reform of education today.
Renaissance college, mirror of the Kheireddine reform project
Ali Hamrit, a university researcher, spoke of a college that embodies the great reform project led by Kheireddine Pacha, an eminent figure of the Renaissance in Tunisia in the 19th century which was “of circus origin, Ottoman culture and Tunisian engagement”.
Originality and modernity are the foundations of this project, having emerged at a time marked by a civilizational crisis in the country, oriented towards Arab-Islamic education and quite familiar with modern Western systems, and whose objective was to build an educated society open to the world.
Asma Haddad who teaches Arabic at Sadiki college, presented his vision for the rehabilitation and preservation of this heritage which inevitably involves the renovation of infrastructure, programs and mechanisms of educational and cultural management ”.
Haddad notably called for the digitization of “precious” school archives of the prestigious Tunisian school through the creation of a platform open to researchers and history of history for the preservation of educational and historical documents.
Historical zoom on a flagship of more than a century
Founded in 1875 by Kheireddine Pacha, the Sadiki college is a flagship institution of education in Tunisia. Its creation marks a decisive turning point in the educational history of the country, symbolizing the entry of Tunisia into an era of modernity and reform.
The first modern education establishment in Tunisia, the Bardo Polytechnic School dates back to 1840. Two years later, on December 1, 1842, in Bab Echifa, the first reform of Zitouna programs was displayed. In June 1874, Mohamed Sadok Bey announced the creation of a new establishment, the Sadiki college, “intended to form a new Muslim elite capable of assuming the administrative expenses of the country”.
Convinced by his trips to Europe of the superiority of the European educational model, Prime Minister Kheireddine, appointed in 1873, closely followed teaching reforms in Egypt and Istanbul and considered that the delay of Muslims in the face of Europeans resulted from their ignorance of science. For him, the economic development of Tunisia necessarily involved improving the education system and better dissemination of knowledge.
Under its leadership, a commission was created to reform the teaching of the Great Mosque and establish a school program for the future Sadiki college. On February 27, 1875, the establishment opened its doors to students from all over the country. In 1878, his management and the administration of his property were entrusted to Mohamed Larbi Zarrouk.
The initial educational experience of Sadiki college was quickly hampered with the start of French colonization. On December 9, 1882, a decree established a board of directors and appointed a French director at the head of the establishment.
From 1920, the college depended on state subsidies after the loss of several of its Habous domains, located in the most fertile regions of the country. This control was to weaken its autonomy and authenticity. However, the colonial power has failed to establish its total control over the Sadiki college: its students and its teachers played a pioneering role within the national movement, which attest to the events of April 1938.
The establishment where the first Tunisian elites, including lawyers, doctors, pharmacists and senior officials, has become, according to the expression of the historian and former pupil of Sadikiya Mohamed Talbi, was more than an institution, a crucible in which a Tunisian elite was forged.
Originally installed in the old barracks of Sidi Morjani, -thectual on rue de la Mosque Zitouna-, Sadiki college was subsequently transferred to Kasbah Square in Tunis. Classified as a historical heritage in 1992, the building, the work of the French architect Pétrus Maillet, is designed in a neo-mother style. Its minaret, an emblematic architectural element, is perceived as the symbol of the college, which has known over the decades the passage of several personalities of various generations having marked the contemporary history of Tunisia.
