Libya

Partners situated in Libya

None.

Libya in a nutshell

Libya (Arabic: ليبيا ‎ Lībiyā); (Libyan vernacular: Lībya), officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya ( الجماهيرية العربية الليبية الشعبية الإشتراكية العظمى ‎ Al-Jamāhīriyyah al-ʿArabiyyah al-Lībiyyah aš-Šaʿbiyyah al-Ištirākiyyah al-ʿUẓmā ) is a country located in North Africa. Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya lies between Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west.

With an area of almost 1.8 million square kilometres (700,000 sq mi), 90% of which is desert, Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa by area, and the 17th largest in the world.

Libya has 5.7 million people - of whom 1.7 million live in the capital, Tripoli.

It has the fifth highest GDP (PPP) per capita of Africa, behind Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Seychelles. This is largely due to its large petroleum reserves and low population. The Libyan economy depends primarily upon revenues from the oil sector, which constitute practically all export earnings and about one-quarter of gross domestic product (GDP). In the early 1980s, Libya was one of the wealthiest countries in the world; its GNP per capita was higher than that of countries such as Italy, Singapore, South Korea, Spain and New Zealand. Today, high oil revenues and a small population give Libya one of the highest GDPs per person in Africa and have allowed the Libyan state to provide an extensive level of social security, particularly in the fields of housing and education. Many problems still beset Libya's economy however; unemployment is the highest in the region at 21% according to the latest census figures.[

Libya has begun some market-oriented reforms. Initial steps have included applying for membership of the World Trade Organization, reducing subsidies, and announcing plans for privatisation. The non-oil manufacturing and construction sectors, which account for about 20% of GDP, have expanded from processing mostly agricultural products to include the production of petrochemicals, iron, and steel.

Districts

There are twenty-two districts of Libya, known by the term shabiyah (Arabic singular sha'biyah, plural sha'biyat). In the 1990s these replaced the older baladiyat system.

Historically the area of Libya was considered three provinces (or states), Tripolitania in the northwest, Cyrenaica in the east, and Fezzan in the southwest. It was the conquest by Italy in the Italo-Turkish War that united them in a single political unit. Under the Italians Libya was eventually divided into four provinces and one territory: Tripoli, Misurata, Benghazi, Derna, (in the north) and the Territory of the Libyan Sahara (in the south).[1] After the French and British occupied Libya in 1943, it was again split into three provinces: Tripolitania in the northwest, Cyrenaica in the east, and Fezzan-Ghadames in the southwest.

Article 176 of the constitution of Libya stated "The Kingdom of Libya shall be divided into administrative units in conformity with the law to be promulgated in this connection. Local and municipal councils may be formed in the Kingdom. The extend of these units shall be determined by law which shall likewise organize these Councils." in exact quote.

After independence, Libya was divided into three governorates (muhafazat), matching the three provinces of before, but in 1963 it was divided into ten governorates. In 1983 a new system was introduced dividing the country into forty-six districts (baladiyat). In 1987 this was reduced to twenty-five districts.

On 2 August 1995, Libya reorganized into thirteen districts (shabiyat). In 1998 this was increased to 26 shabiyat districts. In 2001 it was increased to thirty-two districts plus three administrative regions. Finally in 2007 to was reduced to twenty-two districts. Hopefully this is now stable.

The Libyan economy depends primarily upon revenues from the oil sector, which constitute practically all export earnings and about one-quarter of gross domestic product (GDP). In the early 1980s, Libya was one of the wealthiest countries in the world; its GNP per capita was higher than that of countries such as Italy, Singapore, South Korea, Spain and New Zealand. Today, high oil revenues and a small population give Libya one of the highest GDPs per person in Africa and have allowed the Libyan state to provide an extensive level of social security, particularly in the fields of housing and education. Many problems still beset Libya's economy however; unemployment is the highest in the region at 21% according to the latest census figures.[

Compared to its neighbours, Libya enjoys a low level of both absolute and relative poverty. Libyan officials in the past three years have carried out economic reforms as part of a broader campaign to reintegrate the country into the global capitalist economy.[65] This effort picked up steam after UN sanctions were lifted in September 2003, and as Libya announced in December 2003 that it would abandon programs to build weapons of mass destruction.[66]

Libya has begun some market-oriented reforms. Initial steps have included applying for membership of the World Trade Organization, reducing subsidies, and announcing plans for privatisation.[67] The non-oil manufacturing and construction sectors, which account for about 20% of GDP, have expanded from processing mostly agricultural products to include the production of petrochemicals, iron, steel

Libya education policy

Education in Libya is free for all citizens,[77] and compulsory up until secondary level.

Libya education system

Libya's population includes 1.7 million students, over 270,000 of whom study at the tertiary level. The literacy rate is the highest in North Africa; over 82% of the population can read and write.

Higher education

Universities in Libya

After Libya's independence in 1951, its first university, the University of Libya, was established in Benghazi. In academic year 1975/76 the number of university students was estimated to be 13,418. As of 2004, this number has increased to more than 200,000.

The rapid increase in the number of students in the higher education sector has been mirrored by an increase in the number of institutions of higher education. Since 1975 the number of universities has grown from two to nine and after their introduction in 1980, the number of higher technical and vocational institutes currently stands at 84 (with 12 public universities). Libya's higher education is financed by the public budget. In 1998 the budget allocated for education represented 38.2% of the national budget.

The main universities in Libya are:

1. Al Fateh University (Tripoli)
2. Garyounis University (Benghazi)

Polytechnics in Libya

The number of higher technical and vocational institutes stands at 84. There are 70,000 students enrolled in the higher technical and vocational sector.

Libya's HEIs in the information society

Information society strategy

There was an Education Libya conference in 2007 with an ICT focus - see http://www.cuelc.eu/Events/education-libya-2007-conference-and-exhibitions

National ICT Project for Capacity Building

UNESCO is cooperating with Libya in a "National ICT Project for Capacity Building" according to an agreement signed in 2005 in Libya’s capital Tripoli by Abdul Waheed Khan, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

Project activities include the establishment of Local Area Networks (LANs) within all 149 faculties belonging to various university campuses and institutes, and of Wide Area Network WAN) forming the Libyan Higher Education & Research Network (LHERN). It also foresees the creation of digital libraries/portals of educational resources, the development of ICT-enhanced learning solutions (e.g. e-learning, tele-education, tele-medicine, etc.).

An important component of the project is the training of faculty (digital literacy, basic IT skills, advanced teacher training on using ICTs in teaching and courseware development) and staff (system administrators, media center specialists, etc.).

In addition, the project foresees the creation of a national ICT resource Center for educators and the automation of university management systems through ICTs (e.g. student information systems, university procedures, financial operations, etc.)

Open University of Libya

The Open University of Libya is based in Tripoli. Created in 1987, it has branches in Benghazi, Sebha, Ejdabia, Derna, Misurata and El-Kufra. Curricula and teaching programmes have been delivered via printed and audiovisual materials. It now claims 7,000 students and around 5,600 graduates. It awards undergraduate and graduate degrees in Arabic, Islamic studies, law, business, social sciences, and education.

The university also prides itself on its Arabic-language academic press. It also has a collaboration agreement with Al-Quds Open University in Palestine.

Its web site is at http://www.libopenuniv-edu.org and appears active (at April 2009).

Re.ViCa Case-study

None.

References

1. Porcaro, David (2009), "Arab Open and Virtual Universities", International Higher Education, no. 54, Winter 2009, http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/newsletter/Number54/p23_Porcaro.htm

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