Impact of ministerial management of the LMD reform on its success

The LMD (or Bologna Process) is an educational and structural reform suggested by the European Union to its partners in the South (in particular the Maghreb countries) to bring their university system up to European standard (Chabchoub, 2006). Coming into force from 2004, for Tunisia, this reform was to achieve two major innovations:- Transform the structure of university studies (often heterogeneous) into 3, 5, 8, namely, 3 years for the License, 5 for the Master and 8 for the Doctorate. This structure was to be generalized on all study regimes, except for medical studies.- Occasionally introduce a deep educational reform by:- Inviting teachers to teach other than by masterful methods,- Encouraging students to learn differently,- Encouraging teachers to assess their students other than by restoring the knowledge learned by heart, in most cases (Organic Circular of 9/25/2003).But as Cros (2006) points out, the success of educational reform often depends on how it has been managed and conducted. Indeed, depending on whether it is carried out “Top –Dawn”, or in close association with the stakeholders (here the teachers), an educational reform can either fail or succeed.This article, which deals with the impact of ministerial management of the LMD Reform on its success (case of Tunisia), will try to answer the following two questions:- How did the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education lead the LMD reform and according to what management style?- What was the impact of this style of management on the success of the said reform, 10 years later?