Reply #26: Libya's main university prepares new term for a new dawn

[tabatha]

No one seems to mind that term is starting late at Tripoli University this year. It's not every summer vacation, after all, that records the triumph of a revolution, and there are problems to sort out – not least the huge number of young men toting machine guns on campus – before the students start streaming in past the "down with Gaddafi" and "Free Libya" slogans.

Staff and new intake alike are preparing for a freshers' week with a difference. "In the circumstances I think we can be forgiven if this term is a bit delayed," says administrator Khalifa Shakreen. "Things are changing so fast."

For the first time in 42 years the university has the chance to be a normal academic institution. "Until now we had the form of a university but not the function," says Sami Khaskusha, a political scientist. "We fed young people garbage. Gaddafi just used this place to boost his cult of personality and bolster the regime. It did nothing for Libyan society."

Omar Tajouri, doing a master's degree in international law, wants better teaching, cleaner administration and, above all, freedom. His ambition – unthinkable just months ago – is to specialise in human rights. "Gaddafi's regime was founded on ignorance," he says. "They were the enemies of education and of students."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/21/libyas-main...

excellent article