“My income is not enough to cover my living expenses,” said a distraught displaced Libyan mother of three in Tunisia. “Many Libyan families beg for money in front of mosques to pay for their childrens’ school fees.” 

This mother—who preferred not to be named and is registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Tunisia— worries most about not being able to cover the educational expenses of her two school-aged boys and a daughter at university.

“My income is not enough to cover my living expenses,” said a distraught displaced Libyan mother of three in Tunisia. “Many Libyan families beg for money in front of mosques to pay for their childrens’ school fees.” 

This mother—who preferred not to be named and is registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Tunisia— worries most about not being able to cover the educational expenses of her two school-aged boys and a daughter at university.

There are more than half a million Libyans living in Tunisia, some of whom are displaced persons; others have become Tunisian residents, according to Libyan Ambassador Jamal Jarnaz. And some 3500 Libyan students in public and private universities and schools throughout Tunisia.

The UNHCR estimates that 461 families were forced to leave Libya and more than 1200 male and female pupils in the capital city as well as in other Tunisian cities.

Those forcibly displaced people registered with the UNHCR are not registered with the Libyan embassy in Tunis, according to a source at the UNHCR because they are afraid of being handed over to the Libyan authorities. They hope that the UNHCR will protect them and secure their asylum cases. 

The rich and the poor

According to Bashir al-Nayili, who is now completing his Master’s Degree at a Tunisian university said: “The majority of Libyans living in Tunisia have limited resources. Rich Tunisians live in Morocco, the Gulf countries, Europe and Latin America.”

The very few rich Libyan families that do live in the wealthy areas of Tunisia, reside in areas such as al-Nasr, al-Manar, al-Buhaira, Carthage, Sidi Bou Said and Hammamet.  However, the majority of the forcibly displaced Libyans live in Tunisia’s  urban slums, inner cities, villages and in the countryside in the northeast and specially in the Sfax city, the cities and villages of Nabeul, Sousse, Grombalia, where rents are cheap and the cost of living low. 

Based on the differences in the standard of living, families’ financial resources limit their choices of schools. According to al-Nayli, some families can afford to send their children to schools that offer education in languages other than French but most cannot.

The French language

Samah, a Libyan university student was forced to leave her university because the curriculum in Tunisia is drastically different— particularly due to French, which is one of the former French colony’s official languages and used in all levels of the Tunisian educational system. In contrast, throughout Gadaffi’s rule, Arabic was the only language used in Libya’s educational system.

Samah was forced to leave her country and to migrate to Tunisia after the 2011 revolution.  Yet she can’t cope with the curriculum of the Tunisian universities. 

Residency procedures

According to Samah, private universities facilitate the registration and enrollment procedures, but the procedures in public universities are far more complicated.

“Public universities ask students to bring transfer papers from a Libyan university and there are other procedures such as sending the students’ files to the Ministry of Higher Education in Tunis. They also ask students to bring an approval from a professor, who will supervise them in Tunisia, in order to enroll them.”  

According to the Tunisian law, Libyans have the right to reside in Tunisia for 90 days.  When this period ends, they must obtain a residency permit or leave the country and return to get another 90 days residency.

For students, there are easier procedures. When they register at one of the universities, they are given the right to reside in the country for the duration of the registration period and their residency is renewed every time they register. 

Schools free of charge

To address this problem the Libyan embassy has opened five schools for children of varying ages, according to Cultural Attaché Hisham Shaalah.

“These schools are free of charge and they were opened in areas where there are many Libyans,” Shaalah said. “The embassy opened two schools in the capital city, one school in Sfax, one in al-Mahdiya and one in Hammamet in the northeast of the capital city.”

High demand for schools

These schools, according to the cultural attaché, have about 700 students, 650 of whom are in the elementary and secondary phases and the remaining 50 are in high school. “The demand on these schools is high and is gradually increasing.” 

The geographical distribution of these schools is being now reconsidered in light of the demand. “Some schools, which did not witness high demand, will be closed and we may open new schools in a province or a city where there are many Libyans.”  Shaala added that the task was not an easy one as the cost of building schools was high.  Yet more schools for Libyans addresses at least one of the many challenges facing Libyans trying to get a fresh start in Tunisia.

Tunisian correspondent Houda al Trabelsi contributed to this report.