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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Libya
Index
Under the monarchy, all Libyans were guaranteed the right to
education. Primary and secondary schools were established all over
the country, and old Quranic schools that had been closed during
the struggle for independence were reactivated and new ones
established, lending a heavy religious cast to Libyan education.
The educational program suffered from a limited curriculum, a lack
of qualified teachers--especially Libyan--and a tendency to learn
by rote rather than by reasoning, a characteristic of Arab
education in general. School enrollments rose rapidly, particularly
on the primary level; vocational education was introduced; and the
first Libyan university was established in Benghazi in 1955. Also
under the monarchy, women began to receive formal education in
increasing numbers, rural and beduin children were brought into the
educational system for the first time, and an adult education
program was established.
Total school enrollment rose from 34,000 on the eve of
independence in 1951, to nearly 150,000 in 1962, to about 360,000
at the time of the 1969 revolution. During the 1970s, the training
of teachers was pushed in an effort to replace the Egyptian and
other expatriate personnel who made up the majority of the teaching
corps. Prefabricated school buildings were erected, and mobile
classrooms and classes held in tents became features of the desert
oases.
In 1986 official sources placed total enrollments at more than
1,245,000 students, of whom 670,000 (54 percent) were males and
575,000 (46 percent) were females (see
table 2, Appendix ). These
figures meant that one-third of the population was enrolled in some
form of educational endeavor. For the 1970-86 period, the
government claimed nearly 32,000 primary, secondary, and vocational
classrooms had been constructed, while the number of teachers rose
from nearly 19,000 to 79,000 (see
table 3, Appendix). The added
space and increased number of new teachers greatly improved
student-teacher ratios at preprimary and primary levels; rising
enrollments in general secondary and technical education, however,
increased the density of students per classroom at those levels.
At independence, the overall literacy rate among Libyans over
the age of ten did not exceed 20 percent. By 1977, with expanding
school opportunities, the rate had risen to 51 percent overall, or
73 percent for males and 31 percent for females. Relatively low
though it was, the rate for females had soared from the scanty 6
percent registered as recently as 1964. In the early 1980s, only
estimates of literacy were available--about 70 percent for men and
perhaps 35 percent for women.
In 1987 education was free at all levels, and university
students received substantial stipends. Attendance was compulsory
between the ages of six and fifteen years or until completion of
the preparatory cycle of secondary school. The administrative or
current expenses budget for 1985 allocated 7.5 percent of the
national budget (LD90.4 million) to education through university
level. Allocations for 1983 and 1984 were slightly less--about LD85
million), just under 6 percent of total administrative outlays.
From its inception, the revolutionary regime placed great
emphasis education, continuing and expanding programs begun under
the monarchy. By the 1980s, the regime had made great strides, but
much remained to be done. The country still suffered from a lack of
qualified Libyan teachers, female attendance at the secondary level
and above was low, and attempts in the late 1970s to close private
schools and to integrate religious and secular instruction had led
to confusion. Perhaps most important were lagging enrollments in
vocational and technical training. As recently as 1977, fewer than
5,000 students were enrolled in 12 technical high schools. Although
unofficial estimates placed technical enrollments at nearly 17,000
by 1981, most doctors, dentists, and pharmacists in the early 1980s
still came from abroad. Young Libyans continued to shun technical
training, preferring white collar employment because it was
associated with social respect and high status. As a consequence,
there seemed to be no immediate prospect for reducing the heavy
reliance on expatriate workers to meet the economy's increasing
need for technical skills.
A major source of disruption was the issue of compulsory
military training for both male and female students. Beginning in
1981, weapons training formed part of the curriculum of secondary
schools and universities, part of a general military mobilization
process
(see Conscription and the People's Militia
, ch. 5). Both
male and female secondary students wore uniforms to classes and
attended daily military exercises; university students did not wear
uniforms but were required to attend training camps. In addition,
girls were officially encouraged to attend female military
academies. These measures were by no means popular, especially as
they related to females, but in the mid-1980s it was too soon to
assess their impact on female school attendance and on general
educational standards.
Data as of 1987
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