Twenty-two-year-old Ibrahim Abdullah, a fourth-year student at the faculty of letters at Benghazi University, is waiting for an end to the chaos in the city. He hopes the situation will stabilize long enough for him to complete the last three months of his graduation exams and go on with his life.

Twenty-two-year-old Ibrahim Abdullah, a fourth-year student at the faculty of letters at Benghazi University, is waiting for an end to the chaos in the city. He hopes the situation will stabilize long enough for him to complete the last three months of his graduation exams and go on with his life.

University representative Mohammed Manfi announced recently that the university “will remain closed until the security situation in the city is completely stable.”

Manfi said the university feared for the students’ safety, given that it is often caught up in intermittent clashes between the city’s conflicting factions. Ibrahim, like other students hoping to finish their BA before the end of the year, said he was getting ready to embark on real life – with hopes of traveling abroad to work and continue his studies.

“My whole life has been messed up by the suspension of studies,” he said. “I don’t know how to start my plans again amid this state of endless confusion. I can’t arrange my schedules and day-to-day life.”

School’s out

The university’s decision followed that of other educational authorities in the city, which have shut down schools. Terms were scheduled to start on 31 August, after continuing armed clashes had kept them closed since 16 May last year.

According to Wisam Oshaybi, head of information at Benghazi’s education department, the decision was taken by an ad hoc committee comprised of a number of local education officials. The committee published a report saying that 124 schools in Benghazi and its environs were not ready to receive their pupils, either because they were directly affected by the bombing or were inside conflict zones. The report also mentioned that a number of schools were being used as shelters by internally displaced people fleeing the conflict areas.

Oshaybi added that according to the report, 63,000 pupils could not go to school on the date determined by the Libyan Education Ministry. Not only that, the ongoing fighting had prevented 8,550 teachers from reporting to school.

Individual decision

Samir Gernaz, spokesman for Libya’s Ministry of Education underlined that the Benghazi decision had been made without consultation with the ministry. “The decision made by Benghazi’s officials was individual, considering that they are more familiar with the situation,” he stressed.

Gernaz said Libya’s school year officially began in August, despite problems in the capital Tripoli, where there had been “mismanagement in delivering textbooks to all educational institutions – though the rate of delivery in Benghazi reached 84 percent.”

Many parents are opposed to the suspension, concerned that their children will lose a whole school year as a consequence of the chaos, which has disrupted the country’s educational system for many years.

Negative effects

Abdel Salam Hasan, father of three pupils at elementary and preparatory schools, believes his children “have suffered from boredom and laziness due to spending long hours at home.” He has moved his family outside the city to the El-Marj region, east of Benghazi, where the family has another home and a farm.

Many parents in Benghazi are demanding that schools be opened at least in the safe areas, but educational supervisor Elham Debub opposes the idea, though she appreciates the negative psychological impacts of the suspension on students in general and young children in particular.

Adults also affected

“The suspension has negative psychological effects on university students as well,” said Abdul Karim Bosalum, professor of educational psychology at Benghazi University. “The impact is even more disruptive for students who are left with a month or two to graduate,” he added. He also thinks the closures harm the reputation of Libyan universities and the diplomas they confer on their graduates.

Bosalum said the Ministry of Higher Education should have started studies on the scheduled date, 13 September, despite the apprehension of students and parents – especially the parents of female students, who face greater risks if they attend classes amid the prevailing chaos.

Awad Qoiri, a member of Benghazi municipal council, believes that the decision is the jurisdiction of the Education Ministry alone, and can only be raised with relevant offices, not the council. “Accordingly, we have not taken an official position on the issue,” he said.

“But on a personal level, and according to the views of the rest of the municipal council, and based on the ongoing discussions, we support the return to study and are against its suspension or postponement for whatever reason, since that is detrimental to the students,” he concluded.