By Tom Westcott.
Tripoli, 17 September 2013:
The Canadian School in Libya threw open the doors of its new premises in the Sarraj . . .[restrict]district of Tripoli yesterday, welcoming children, parents and visitors.
“We are very excited about this school,” Canadian Ambassador to Libya Michael Grant told the Libya Herald: “To fulfil the goals of the revolution what Libya needs is a high-quality education system.”
He added that the new school was a perfect example of what people with vision who were committed to Libya could achieve.
The new school will be using a Canadian curriculum, as well as teaching children English, French and Arabic. Each school year will have a Canadian teacher and an Arabic-speaking translator, for those children who are not yet fluent in English.
The owner of the school, Khalil Khamiss, who lives and works in Canada, said he had the idea for the school when he was trying to figure out how he could contribute to building the new Libya.
“I think the best way to help any country is through education,” Khamiss said, “and this is a good opportunity to engage the Libyan primary education system with the Canadian one.”
As soon as he had got permission from the Libyan and Canadian Ministries of Education, preparations for the school began. The premises has two spacious buildings as well as grounds furnished with play equipment.
Twenty students are already enrolled and many more parents have expressed interest in the school but have been waiting for it to open its doors.
Canada was classed as one of the best-educated countries in the world according to a recent survey by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Grant said that Libya and Canada already had strong links in the area of education, but said that this was mainly in higher education.
“In terms of bilateral relations,” Grant said, “the Canadian School in Libya is invaluable.”
For more information, see: http://cisl.doomby.com [/restrict]
