Schools in Benghazi have been closed ever since General Khlaifa Haftar launched Operation Dignity on October 15, 2014, turning the city into a dangerous warzone between opposing militias. Some teachers tried to spearhead an initiative to reopen schools in relatively calm areas, but with no success, leaving thousands of children in Benghazi deprived of their right to education.

Schools in Benghazi have been closed ever since General Khlaifa Haftar launched Operation Dignity on October 15, 2014, turning the city into a dangerous warzone between opposing militias. Some teachers tried to spearhead an initiative to reopen schools in relatively calm areas, but with no success, leaving thousands of children in Benghazi deprived of their right to education.

A few months later, teacher Ahmed Sahili, 34, came up with the idea of videotaping lessons and uploaing them on the Internet, so that students could access lessons online. But the circumstances that inspired Sahili’s project were the same ones that would take his life, right before he could implement his Internet learning project.

Dream of an optimist

“Sahili was an optimist who dreamed of a country free of arms except, the arm of education,” says Salem Nayhoom, a math supervisor and a collaborator on the Internet learning project. “He was one of the first people to talk about the problem (with education). Sahili proposed solutions and held discussions with his colleagues and supervisors.”

Sahili’s initial idea was for the Education Inspection Office (EIO) to photocopy a summarized edition of the curricula so that students could study during the remaining academic year. However, due to unavailable finances, the idea was impossible to implement. Sahili then proposed the concept of Internet learning to a group of friends.

After many attempts, Sahili contacted the ‘Enlighten Me’ initiative, a civil society organization, which offered a camera if Sahili could prepare a location for shooting lessons. Sahili was very enthusiastic and called the principal of the National Unity School (NUS) who offered a classroom for a set.

Sahili and his colleagues conducted a training course in the EIO on how to use a data show projector in preparation for videotaping the lessons.

Destiny

“Man proposes and God disposes,” says education supervisor Fathi Rayyani. “We agreed to meet in the NUS to videotape the lessons. Sahili was always on time, but not on that day. We called to inquire. A crying voice answered his phone and said Sahili was hit by a mortar shell and he was in the Intensive Care Unit. We were shocked. We rushed to see him. However, he soon passed away after he asked us to complete the project.”

Sahili was survived by a wife and four children. “Sahili left everything, even his dream,” says Mohamed Zedani, Sahili’s friend and a geography supervisor. “Dreams however do not die. His dream has outlived him.”

Project’s phases

The project, says Zedani, faced many obstacles. Shooting the lessons in the school did not work. So, supervisor Ahmed Kaplan offered a 16-square-meter room in the Bariek Center, which he owns. There was coordination with a director from the Wataniya TV Channel and a cameraman to shoot and do the montage of the lessons. Manager of the channel Ahmed Barakat offered the needed equipment and cameras to prepare the set.

“Shooting went on from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm,” says Faraj Farjani who is tasked with doing the montage and recording the lessons on CDs. “Each lesson lasted 30 minutes. Each day, ten teachers voluntarily took part in shooting the lessons for free.”

The Internet learning program targets all primary and high school students. However, shooting the lessons of grades 7-12 was more advanced through using the smart board technique.

The lessons have been copied on CDs and some Libyan channels, including the Wataniya Channel, have broadcast them.

Small victory

The Ministry of Education (MoE) failed to support the project during implementation, and after a long period finally adopted it. The Ministry of Information also did not initially support the project although the project makers hope it might direct its channels to air the lessons to reach the largest possible number of students, so they contacted the Amman-based Libyan Ahli Club Channel, which agreed to transmit the lessons in Jordan. Then, other channels agreed to screen them.

Head of the Benghazi Examination Department Khalifa Shiwi says conducting exams under the deteriorated situation in Benghazi is no easy task. It was difficult to accurately evaluate students since the success rate was 100%. The number of first, second and third graders who sat for exams was 1,032. All of them passed.

Aya Shtewi, an eighth grader, says she largely benefitted from the idea despite endless power outages. “Internet learning was a good idea,” says Shtewi. “We had the opportunity to attend lessons in our homes. However, I miss seeing my friends every morning.”