Many historians and scholars have embraced the concept of ""tradition vs modernity,"" arguing that Islamic educational institutions play a minor role in Muslim civilization's intellectual development. Despite the fact that portrayals of Islamic educational institutions, such as madrasas, as legacies of medieval antiquity are still popular in public discourse, numerous historians, philosophers, and scholars have debated this concept over the years. This research is a comparative study to explore the modern Islamic educational reform in Islamic higher education in Tunisia and Indonesia. As well as its contribution to development. The purpose of this study is to answer what are the explorations of educational reform in Indonesia and Tunisia's higher education? What is both countries' contribution to the development of Islamic education? The study was conducted using a qualitative method with an historical approach. The historical books of colonialism in Indonesia and Tunisia were used to collect data for the exploration of Islamic educational reform in Islamic higher education. Data also includes journals, articles, books, news, and international data that are relevant to the theme. The findings of the study show that modern reform is impacted by the colonial system in Indonesia, which allowed faith-based schools to take control of the schools. Islamic higher education in Indonesia is growing with modern ideas and has a dualistic system. While in Tunisia, of the French colonial type, they tried to get rid of all Islamic education because many Islamic higher education or madrasas were gotten rid of. As a result, following the end of colonialism, Islamic higher education in Tunisia now consists of just one and only Zaitunah University as part of Islamic civilization. This paper expects that by providing insight into colonial-era transformations, current and future generations of educators will recognize their significance and help to reintegrate an Islamic worldview, epistemology, and ethics into higher education development.

Education has a critical role in the development of a new generation of individuals. It all depends on the constitutional frameworks and norms around which educational institutions and educational praxis are founded, and education is one of the tools to maintain national identity. The quality of education cannot simply be measured by the percentage of GDP spent on education. According to the World Data Bank, Tunisia spends 26.63 percent of its budget on education, while Indonesia spends only 20.50 percent. However, this does not guarantee that the quality of education in Tunisia is higher than in Indonesia due to the cultural and constitutional framework disparities between the two countries. The aim of this study is to compare the higher education curricula in Tunisia, which was developed from the French secular, or laicite, system, with that in Indonesia, which is founded on the ideology of Pancasila. Moreover, this study aims to analyze how the laicite system and Pancasila ideology have an impact on higher education curriculum design. The method used is a qualitative approach with a comparative case study analysis. Data was obtained from interview sessions with policy makers on curriculum as well as from the handbooks of curriculum in the Faculty of Culture at Indonesia University and the curriculum of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Tunis University and focuses on the learning method and outcomes, as well as other journal and mass media pieces that are relevant. The data shows that disparities between constitutional frameworks and ideological contrasts between Pancasila and the laicite system have a significant impact on the religious component of the curriculum development process. In Tunisia, in particular, the curriculum has yet to achieve the government’s goal of developing critical consciousness. In Indonesia, the curriculum is based on the process model design, while in Tunisia, it is based on the product model design.