By Libya Herald staff.
Benghazi, 11 October 2014:
The International School in Benghazi says it will reopen for the new academic year on . . .[restrict]Sunday, with almost two-thirds of its former pupils expected to return to study.
“We delayed opening for security reasons but now the situation is much improved in Benghazi and the city and its people are getting back to normal,” a senior source from the school told the Libya Herald.
The school is expecting several hundred students to start the new term. “We used to have over 600 pupils but we anticipate around two-thirds of this number returning, as some families have left the country,” he said. “We actually prefer smaller numbers because this keeps the quality of the school and teaching very high.”
The school does not have any foreign national staff at present, as the deteriorating security situation has made it untenable for the school to continue employing teachers whose safety may be at risk.
Some international staff continued to work at the school in spite of warnings and advisories from international governments and even after American chemistry teacher Ronnie Smith was shot dead by gunmen in December last year. However, following the kidnapping and subsequent release after nearly five months in captivity of English teacher and head of the secondary school David Bolam, foreign staff left the school.
“The school is opening with local teachers, for the moment,” a representative of the International School said, adding that the door would be kept open for any teachers wishing to return to Benghazi in the future. [/restrict]
