Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Tunisia: Education Driving Calls for Political Freedom Joe DeCapua 19 January 2011 Highly educated but unemployed young people have been in the forefront of recent protests in Tunisia, like this one in Sidi Bouzid, 10 Jan 2011 Photo: AP Highly educated but unemployed young people have been in the forefront of recent protests in Tunisia, like this one in Sidi Bouzid, 10 Jan 2011 As the protests in Tunisia continue, one analyst says education may be driving the demand for political freedom there. Cornell University African Studies Professor NâDri Assie-Lumumba was in Tunisia in December when the turmoil began to surface.  She says considering Tunisiaâs educated population, public protest to political repression is not unexpected. âIâm not surprised at all, given a number of political and social factors. Education is [a] critical social institution. But acquiring an education is not an end in itself. It has to serve a certain purpose for society, for the individual who acquired that education. And when there is a discrepancy between the projected goal and the actual situation this is a major ingredient in what happened,â she says. Other factors, she says, include a lack of both democracy and a sense of freedom. N'Dri Assie-Lumumba, courtesy - Cornell University N'Dri Assie-Lumumba Giving the people a voice Assie-Lumumba says having a more educated population makes it more that people will speak out when they feel oppressed. She agrees with Egyptian education expert Saad Nagi that whether or not jobs are available, itâs critical to educate the population. âWhen you have highly educated people, who do not have jobs, they will find ways to question, to find answers to why they donât have jobs. And they will try to solve the problem,â she says. The Cornell professor says there could be many reasons why the public has reacted so strongly now, including the incident in which a Tunisian man set himself on fire in protest last month. She says conditions in Tunisia âmade it impossible for him to earn even a basic living by selling produce, instead of using the skills that he learned in the high education institution.â Assie-Lumumba adds, âIt could have happened with any other event. What is happening now has been building for years, for decades literally. So why now? Itâs the accumulation of factors. People canât take it anymore.â She says even the countryâs lawyers, a highly educated group, have not aligned themselves with the government. âIt was reported that 95 percent of them were part of the strike,â she says, âIt means as a social group, as a professional group, they donât associate themselves with the ruling system. So itâs the whole education system in all its complexities â the unemployed, the employed butâ¦unhappy â they have acquired a certain level of sophistication in the analysis, but they cannot apply it to their own lives because of the political repression.â Tunisia not alone Assie-Lumumba sees similar tensions in other countries, as well, including Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Algeria, Cameroon and her native Ivory Coast. .