Turning the corner in Tunisia: a Learning World special focus When Tunisian students took to the streets three years ago, they hoped that political change could also improve education. So are problems like illiteracy, high drop-out rates and a lack of support for research still plaguing the system? Those are the issues in question in the three stories of this edition of Learning World, presented by Maha Barada. In the first we visit a school in Tunis to find out why the country's classroom dropout rate is so high in the aftermath of the revolution. Official figures show almost 100,000 students dropped out of school in 2012, an increase of nearly 30 percent on previous years. Many families still cannot afford school supplies and students who took part in demonstrations found it difficult to return to their studies. Now, educators are calling for an urgent reform. Our second story focuses on the remarkable achievements of chemistry researcher Hayet Omri, who has defied funding and resource challenges to win accolades from around the world for groundbreaking innovations in her field. The award-winning scientist reveals her determination to inspire others in her country and beyond. Tunisia's persistent problems of gender inequality are under the spotlight in the final story. Traditionally girls" education is given much less priority than boys and illiteracy levels are significantly higher. Yet figures show that women who do make it to higher education tend to do better than their male counterparts. In this report we look at how government ministries and a leading rights group have joined forces to try to address the imbalance. We are always keen to hear from you, so please share your thoughts and experiences with us on our social media pages. Learning World on Facebook Learning World on Twitter