The practical seminar as part of the project “German-Tunisian educational partnership Orthopedic Technology” took place from May 31st to June 13th 2013 at the Max-Born-Kolleg in Recklinghausen. The overall project is financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany and serves to establish a national educational program in Tunisia while training local capacities to take the leadership in training future generations of professionals.
German support of the profession in Tunisia dates back to the 1990s, when through a German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) project 12 professionals were educated at the BUFA school in Germany. Following a visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, Guide Westerwelle, to Tunisia last year, the German government decided to foster development of prosthetics and orthotic in the country by funding this project. Partners in the project are Sequa GmbH, the Centre d’Appareillage Orthopédique and Human Study e.V., aiming to provide Tunisian orthopedic professionals with high quality education in accordance with international standards prescribed by the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics. The Ministry for Social Affairs in Tunisia supports the project. The participants are 23 orthopedic technicians from Tunisia, mainly employees of the Centre d’Appareillage Orthopédique in Tunis, but also of private service providers.
