Written evidence from the British Council (LIB0010)
Contents
1 Summary
2 The British Council
3 The British Council in Libya
4 The Cultural Relations Context
5 British Council’s work in Libya since 2011
6 Conclusions
1 SUMMARY
2 THE BRITISH COUNCIL
2.1 The British Council was founded to create ‘a friendly knowledge and understanding’ between the people of the UK and wider world. We do this by making a positive contribution to the countries we work with, using the cultural resources of the UK such as art, sport, education, science, culture, language, innovation, creativity and the sharing of the UK’s values and ways of living.
2.2 Our work makes a lasting difference to the UK’s international standing by increasing the country’s influence and networks with key decision makers, influencers and the wider public globally. It increases UK prosperity by encouraging more trade, investment and tourism. It helps to keep the UK safe and secure by reducing extremism and improving stability and security in strategically important countries. It also increases influence by growing the number of people who know and trust the UK.
2.3 We work in over 100 countries worldwide. These include all of the places of major importance for UK trade and security, from China, India, Brazil and Russia, to North America and the EU, to the Commonwealth, to the Middle East and North Africa. We are at the forefront of the UK’s international networks and soft power.
2.4 Each year we reach over 20 million people face to face and through our events, and more than 500 million online and via broadcasts and publications.
3 THE BRITISH COUNCIL IN LIBYA
3.1 The British Council first established an office in Tripoli in 1956 with an additional office opening in Benghazi in 1960. Heavy demand for our services continued both in Tripoli and Benghazi following Muammar Gaddafi’s seizure of power in 1969. Restrictions on foreign cultural centres were introduced in 1971 and we stopped working in Libya in May 1973. We resumed operations in 2000. Our work grew significantly to respond to a particular demand for English language training from individuals, organisations (e.g. in the health sector) and businesses, particularly in the oil sector and we opened a purpose-built teaching centre in Tripoli in 2005.
3.2 In response to the worsening security situation we withdrew over 100 international staff from eight cities across Libya and closed our offices in February 2011. We resumed our work in Tripoli as soon as possible after the Revolution in October 2011. Our decision to reopen many months before any other cultural/international organisations enhanced our reputation as a true friend of Libya.
3.3 In 2014, we gradually reduced our work as the security situation in Libya became more unpredictable. We suspended all of our work in Libya and temporarily closed our office as fighting intensified in August 2014. In September 2014 we resumed limited ‘back office’ operations in Tripoli with a reduced team supplemented by a small team in Tunis, housed within the British Council Tunisia.
3.4 Libya today is wracked by political instability and violent civil conflict. The situation is complex and expected to continue for some time to come, at least until a majority of Libyans agree on how to distribute political power and share the country’s economic resources. With little or no governing institutions and still recovering from decades of misrule, Libyans are falling back on what they know i.e. tribal, religious and regional identities to pursue local interests. In such a fragile situation, Libyans need help to both find and own solutions to their problems.
3.5 The British Council is committed to supporting international efforts to realise a stable, prosperous future for Libya, a state with huge potential and one which remains of critical importance to the UK’s strategic interests. Despite the security situation the British Council continues to work to build trust between the people of Libya and the UK, especially those who are likely to be influential in the country’s future. We are prioritising work that will make a real difference in Libya through supporting education reform, and by providing opportunities for young people to develop their professional and vocational skills and to have a voice in shaping the future of their country.
4 CULTURAL RELATIONS CONTEXT
4.1 Education and Skills
4.1.1 Decades of mismanagement, under-investment and corruption under the Gaddafi regime have left Libya’s economy and education system ill equipped to deliver sustainable economic development and a skilled workforce to support it. Already high levels of unemployment, now standing at an estimated 27-39% are likely to increase, especially amongst young Libyan men.
4.1.2 Youth unemployment is cause for concern, on the one hand because it negatively affects the return on investment in education and training of young Libyans, on the other hand because high youth unemployment can become an important cause of social unrest, especially when combined with a rapid growth of the labour force and the mismatch between the supply of and demand for skills in the labour market. Indeed, some 45% of the population is under the age of 25 and, of this group, those in the labour market are four times more likely to be unemployed.
Youth unemployment in Libya is exacerbated by three main issues:
4.1.3 Two further areas affecting long-term prospects for peace and stability intensify the need for attention to be paid to education and skills. The first is the co-existence of a high number of migrant workers – many from Sub-Saharan Africa – set alongside growing Libyan unemployment. It is estimated that between 1 and 2 million foreigners work in Libya, many of them illegally. Secondly, up to 150,000 of the estimated 300,000 Libyans who were active in different combative roles during the revolution are eligible for specialised training, study abroad and job placement opportunities intended to demobilise and reintegrate militia forces. Our research suggests that there is strong demand for English language training, vocational guidance services and an appetite for entrepreneurship training.
4.1.4 Reform of the education system was identified as a key objective by the post-Gaddafi government but progress has been limited, partly due to the financial and security challenges Libya has faced since 2012, but also due to lack of capacity and political will within the government and the wider education sectors to design, fund and implement the required reforms.
4.1.5 Studying abroad has been the main route to achieving quick results in Higher Education with funds allocated in May 2013 to send some 31,000 students for tertiary education abroad, commencing with intensive language study. The UK is the destination of choice for Libyans studying abroad.
4.2 English
4.2.1 English is a compulsory subject in schools from grade 6 onwards and on the majority of vocational training and university degree programmes, although the quality of ELT (English language teaching) is generally poor and most students and – in the school and vocational education sectors - teachers possess low levels of English. The improvement of ELT in all sectors of the education system was a stated priority within the government’s reform programme. However, while the government recognised the importance of an effective system of ELT for Libya’s future development, as with education more generally, progress towards making any improvements in its provision was limited.
4.3 Arts and Society
4.3.1 Institutions and artists have highlighted the difficulties, restrictions and the lack of opportunities in pre-revolution Libya. A framework of laws restricted Libyan Civil Society Organisations and institutions were unable to develop coherent programmes of work. Before the revolution, training and education for artists focused narrowly on the acquisition of technical skills rather than on creative thinking or individual expression. Arts organisations were regularly required to be responsive to the showcasing needs of the regime. This led not only to a diminishing skills base and a lack of capacity but also a lack of public profile, audience reach and a consequent lack of institutional confidence.
4.3.2 Civil society and arts flourished after the revolution with a focus on developing self-expression, forums for debate and voice for young people in the new, post-Gaddafi society. However, the two competing administrations in Libya combined with routine violence, kidnappings and political assassinations sometimes targeting the leaders of civil society groups, have restricted the impact civil society organisations can achieve at the national level. The foundations for future advocacy, cooperation and dialogue are however being laid at local levels, albeit with limited organisational capacity and experience.
5 BRITISH COUNCIL’S WORK IN LIBYA SINCE 2011
5.1.1 The British Council prioritises work that strengthens the voice and skills of Libyan young people by helping them gain access to the UK’s language, education and culture. Everything we do contributes to the building of a peaceful and stable Libya. We use our trusted reputation to position the UK to take advantage of the long-term opportunities Libya has to offer.
5.1.2 The UK is still generally seen as a friend. The British Council remains one of the very few international organisations still working on the ground in Libya and this is recognised and valued by our Libyan partners. We are not a political organization and we do not formally engage with the competing administrations or militias. Our work is conflict-sensitive and our operating model has adjusted to enable us to achieve a level of geo-political balance in Libya. We now reach more of the country through digital and broadcast channels, supplemented with judicious face-to-face work in Tripoli and third countries, mainly Tunisia and Turkey.
5.1.3 Our programme of activity is helping us balance the short-term imperatives of maintaining relationships and contributing to stability whilst preparing in the medium-term for the moment when peace returns and the UK can again support Libya’s reconstruction and development at scale.
5.2 Building capability of teachers and learners
5.2.1 The British Council had a very good relationship with the Ministry of Higher Education. We supported partnerships in higher education between UK and Libyan universities, providing leadership training to senior university managers and supporting international collaboration with, most recently, the Maghreb Digital Education conference in Tunisia and a symposium on skills and opportunities for young people in the Arab world in Egypt. In 2014 we facilitated a partnership between the Open University in the UK and its Libyan counterpart designed to share knowledge on the provision of effective distance-based learn solutions for students throughout Libya.
5.2.2 The British Council struggled to engage with Libya’s Ministry of Education and thus with the reform programme in schools. A number of projects had to be cancelled due to the ministry’s lack of real engagement. However, there has been some success: in 2012 we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Education aimed at improving the skills of teachers and school inspectors. This led to the development of a cadre of teacher educators who trained 250 practicing teachers and delivered a series of specialist courses, reaching 120 school inspectors.
5.3 Skills Development
5.3.1 In 2013 and 2014, we worked with the support of the Libyan government and sponsorship of the Libyan International Telecommunication Company to deliver an Enterprise Award competition, giving 500,000 students the chance to showcase their problem solving skills and develop proposals for establishing their own businesses.
5.3.2 Until suspension of the project in November 2014 (on security grounds), the British Council managed the €6.5m Libya Technical and Vocational Education project on behalf of the EU. The project was designed to support socio-economic development in Libya. With our partners, the Libyan National Board for Technical and Vocational Education (NBTVE), AARHUS Tech from Denmark, NUV from Czech Republic and the UK’s Association of Colleges, we worked to develop and implement a strategy to realign the education system with the needs of the labour market. The project worked with nine vocational institutes and other regional and national bodies across Libya representing government, business and education, responding to the challenges of unemployment, private sector growth and the changing role of vocational education systems. We hope to resume the project as soon as possible.
5.4 Improving teaching and learning of English across Libya
5.4.1 Since 2011 the British Council has worked in partnership with the university sector on a range of initiatives to improve its capacity to deliver ELT. These have included organising national conferences at the universities of Benghazi, Omar Mokhtar, Tripoli and Zawia, a leadership and management course delivered to 50 head of English departments in partnership with the University of Nottingham as well as regular Libyan delegations to international conferences and regional workshops. The British Council has also organised in-country training programmes for university teachers on using ICT for ELT, teaching English for academic purposes and mentoring new teachers.
5.4.2 In 2013, we worked with the NBTVE on a programme to give every teacher of English in the technical and vocational education sector the opportunity to develop their teaching and English language skills and to obtain a UK teaching qualification. In 2014, we worked with NBTVE to carry out a review of ELT in the vocational education sector, using the research to produce an agreed road map for ELT reform in the sector.
5.4.3 We are supporting the establishment and development of a new National Centre for Modern Languages which has been established to provide quality English language and professional development training services within the university sector. The centre has recently opened in Tripoli and is staffed by teachers with UK teaching qualifications. Specialists from the UK are providing advisory, training and other support services remotely.
5.4.4 Since the summer of 2014, we have adapted our approach to account for the deteriorating security environment with a particular emphasis on digital delivery. We have:
5.4.5 The British Council supported EnglishUK’s English trade mission to Tripoli in 2013. In 2014, we worked with the UK embassy Visa Section to deliver visa application training to 25 educational travel agents in response to the high number of refusals for Libyans applying for student visas. We have further worked to consolidate the UK as the destination of choice for Libyans intending to study English abroad. Between 2012 and 2014, we sent large numbers of government officials on UK English language study programmes resulting in approximately £2 million income for the UK ELT industry.
5.5 Supporting the creation of an open, inclusive society through Arts and Social Development
5.5.1 In 2012 a team from York University’s Post-War Reconstruction and Development Unit undertook a series of research interviews for a British Council commissioned report on Artistic Practices and Social Change. The report highlighted the very clear need in Libya to develop a cultural infrastructure as a key element of building a civil society that is ‘conducive to free expression, creativity, openness and national unity.’
5.5.2 In 2012 we delivered a street art exhibition in Tripoli and Benghazi in partnership with the Victoria & Albert Museum, combining Libyan street art created during and after the revolution alongside international pieces. The exhibition included lectures, discussions, and workshops for school groups in both Tripoli and Benghazi attracting several thousand visitors and underlining the popularity and demand that exists in Libya for both new art forms and an international contribution in this area. British Council Libya is the only organisation to have brought such an exhibition to the country since the fall of the Gaddafi Regime.
5.5.3 The British Council worked with the Ministry of Culture and Civil Society to develop links between UK and Libyan Cultural Institutes and Civil Society Organizations. In February 2012 the British Council supported a ministerial study visit to the UK to learn from relevant arts educational institutes and British government bodies.
5.5.4 In 2012, we obtained a grant from the European Development Fund to work in Partnership with the Libyan National Theatre on a Street Theatre Project. The objective of the project was to increase the participation and exposure levels of the Libyan people to cultural activities and to introduce a new participatory art form to Libya. The live performance in Tripoli was delivered in November 2013 reaching an audience of 1700 with a later performance in the UK in June 2014 at the Greenwich and Docklands International Festival.
5.5.5 Over the course of two years, the British Council, in partnership with the Scottish Documentary Institute and Tripoli Arts Institute worked with young filmmakers in Libya to produce and edit short documentary films for international film festivals in the UK and the Middle East. The aim behind this series of filmmaking workshops has been to develop the skills of young Libyans to help them make documentaries that show something of the many different realities experienced by Libyans living through a very difficult transition. Seven new documentaries about life in Libya have been completed for 2015, looking at women’s hopes after the revolution, growing old in Tripoli, preserving cultural heritage, an aspiring athlete and illegal migration amongst others. A number of the films developed through our workshops have already been shown at international festivals.
5.5.6 The British Council supports a weekly broadcast of contemporary British music. The award-winning ‘Selector’ radio programme is currently broadcast to some 12,000 people in Libya.
5.5.7 We are now developing work which will use Libyan cultural assets to support reconstruction and reconciliation. We will also shortly launch our Grant for Artists scheme, designed to support 20 emerging Libyan artists, building our engagement within the arts and cultural sector in Libya while facilitating the arts sectors in the UK.
5.6 Helping people contribute to, and benefit from, their societies
5.6.1 Our society programme helps young people in Libya build a culture of pluralism through dialogue, debate and advocacy and supports women’s leadership and participation in public life. This work helps us maintain important civil society leadership networks critical to the future peace and stability of Libya. We are building a legacy for these influential networks – an asset to Libya and the UK – by offering further skills development opportunities and connecting our work to local and national dialogue efforts led by the UN.
5.6.2 We support a network of more than 100 debate clubs and supported the establishment of a National Youth Participation Structure to represent young people and ensure their involvement and inclusion in the political and socio-economic development of Libya. The Youth Network now consists of more than 1000 members across the country. We are currently in active discussion with UNESCO and the British Youth Council on how to take forward our work with the Libya Youth Network.
5.6.3 We aim to improve the well-being of women and girls by helping them develop skills and demonstrate leadership within their communities, thereby challenging perceptions of the role and contributions women make to Libyan society; we are currently building on our partnership with Durham University Business School, Springboard Programme and INTRAC where we have reached 12 communities across Libya and 600 participants to date.
5.6.4 The Hammamet Conference is a unique UK–North Africa programme of events and discussions run by the British Council. The conference is chaired by Lord Lothian and Dr Atia Lawgali of Libya. Dr Lawgali served as a Deputy Minister of Culture and Civil Society in the Libyan transitional government. The conference provides a platform for senior leaders and opinion formers from the UK and North Africa to connect, exchange views, create solutions and realise opportunities. The annual conference has been well attended by Libyan participants and is scheduled to take place in Tunisia later this year, with conference conversations focussed on the theme ‘Cultivating Inclusion and Countering Exclusion.’
6 CONCLUSIONS
6.1 We believe that Libya’s education system faces a range of serious challenges at all levels and risks in particular frustrating the political and economic ambitions of Libya’s youth population. Reform is essential to provide for a foundation for structural stability in Libya. This is not a long-term goal: education plays an important, immediate role in post-conflict recovery as well as in upstream conflict prevention. Reform will create opportunity for social and economic inclusion, reducing extrinsic incentives to radicalization whilst supporting a framework for management of intrinsic goals i.e. values and a way of thinking.
6.2 Libya offers considerable long-term potential for UK education providers. When peace breaks out Libya will require technical assistance, advisory services and specialist training in all areas of its education system. It is also likely that the Government of National Accord will seek to reactivate the extensive overseas postgraduate scholarship programme – of which the UK was the main recipient of students – and the large-scale UK English language training programmes for state sector officials.
6.3 Most importantly, Libyans today want to engage with the world as equals: well educated, well informed, connected and up-to-date. The tools we can offer them: English language, internationally recognised qualifications and access to UK values, society and culture can directly help them achieve their aspirations.
6.4 The British Council plays a key role in building trust between the peoples of Libya and the UK. Our long established networks, capability on the ground and global experience of delivering highly valued programmes give the UK a unique advantage to influence and benefit from Libya’s stability and prosperity.
September 2015