Beneficios fundamentales que el ejercicio físico regular ofrece sobre la salud

On September 1 1969, a small group of army officers staged a military coup, under the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi, and his dictatorial regime was to remain in power for 42 years. Although Gaddafi’s new Libyan Arab Republic, as it was initially referred to, had little, if anything, in common with the previous political system of Constitutional Monarchy which it overthrew, it did however enshrine the importance of education in its new Constitution which was issued on December 11 1969. Article 14 states that:

Education is a right and duty for all Libyans. It is compulsory until the end of the primary school. The State guarantees this right through the establishment of schools, institutes, and universities, and of pedagogical and cultural institutions in which education is free. The creation of private schools will also be regulated by law. The State is particularly anxious to enhance the physical, intellectual and moral development of the youth.

It was clear by the late 1960s that the new-found prosperity which the discovery of oil had brought to Libya would mean that these well-intentioned words could be transformed into reality for its citizens. The profits from oil exports would allow the State to finance a programme of free education, stretching all the way from primary to tertiary level, and also to tackle the issue of adult illiteracy, which in some parts of the country still remained at the level of 90% which had been observed by the UNESCO mission in the early 1950s (Higgins: 1952).

Although the general structure of the educational system in Libya underwent few fundamental changes from its original pattern, changes driven by political ideology and external events were to influence educational policy, philosophy, and the curriculum to a massive extent. As promised in the wording of the 1969 Constitution, public education in Libya continues to be free of charge for everyone who desires it from elementary stage to the university level.

The most recent set of aims for education in Libya reflect the underlying principles of the regime’s educational philosophy:

1. To help students to master the proper use of Arabic in all areas with interest in foreign language to communicate with the world.

2. To develop the students’ sense of national identity, and deepen their pride in the Arab Nation and Islamic world civilization.

3. To provide educational opportunities for all and assist students to choose the specialization that is in conformity with their orientations and abilities, and meet the needs of the society to achieve sustainable human development.

4. To enable students to acquire the skills of thinking and scientific analysis to keep pace with science and technical development in the contemporary world.

5. To achieve a balance between theoretical information and its practical application and to establish linkage and integration between different fields of knowledge which help to employ them in their lives (General Peoples’ Committee, 2008: 4-5).

LEVEL DESCRIPTION ENGLISH

KINDERGARTEN

Age: Four or five Duration: Two years Not compulsory

No English is

introduced in this level in the state

kindergarten (private schools start teaching English at this level) BASIC EDUCATION:

PRIMARY

Age: 6-12 Grades: 1-6 Duration: Six years Compulsory.

No English teaching was introduced to this level until 1999/2000

BASIC EDUCATION: PREPARATORY

Age: 13- 15 Grades 7,8,9

Duration: Three years Compulsory. English language teaching started at grade 7 INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION (SECONDARY) Age: 16-19 Grades 10,11,12,13 Duration: Three-four years

Since 1999/2000 English was taught according to the

undergraduate Duration: Four-six years taught to all departments HIGHER EDUCATION (POSTGRADUATE MASTERS) Age: 24 +

Duration: One-three years

English terms are introduced according to the specialism

Table 1: The Educational System in Libya

Children are enrolled at kindergarten at the age of four or five. This level is not compulsory and some cities and villages do not have any kindergarten. Instead, parents start to teach their children at home, passing on some basic knowledge like numbers and the Arabic alphabet before they begin formal education at primary school.

The first level of formal compulsory education, basic education is divided into two stages. Basic education is compulsory for all Libyan children. The first stage, primary education, lasts for a total of six years. Children are enrolled at the age of six and remain until the age of 12. The second stage, preparatory (or pre-secondary) education lasts for three years and students normally enrol at the age of 13 to 15 years old. All students who have completed the basic education level and passed the national exam can enrol in secondary education.

Secondary Education starts at the age of 16. Following major changes to the education system in Libya in 2000 a new form of secondary education was introduced which meant that students were expected to choose specialist areas of study which would be the focus of their secondary school learning and would also define their future academic route (Asker 2011: i).

Secondary Education Pre-2000 consisted of just two routes, with all students studying Arabic and EFL.

 Arts: including subjects such as History, Geography, and Islamic Studies. Students

who successfully complete this route can gain access to study in the Faculty of Arts (comprising twelve departments such as Arabic, English, History, Geography, Psychology, and Philosophy) or the Faculty of Law.

 Sciences: including subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Statistics, and

Algebra. Students who successfully complete this route can enrol in the Faculties of Medicine, Engineering, Sciences, or Economics.

Secondary Education Post-2000 was more applied with students choosing their area of specialization from the second year of this stage, secondary education having been divided into four different majors or fields of study, namely:

• Social Sciences • Basic Sciences • Engineering Sciences

Each of the different specialised majors has its own specialised subjects with EFL being considered a core subject in each major.

Students can also opt to study technical or vocational education in a Higher Institute. Any students who successfully completes their secondary education or technical or vocational education can seek admission to higher education. University undergraduate courses typically last for four years although in certain faculties (such as Medicine), the university course lasts for six years. Appropriately qualified students may undertake postgraduate study which includes taught Masters Courses or in some fields it is also possible to complete a doctoral research degree (PhD).

Since 2000, Libyan students start learning English as a compulsory school subject in the fifth grade of primary school at the age of 11 onwards. During secondary education, lasting four years in specialist school, students follow one of the four specialised majors with its own subjects but English is considered as a core subject for every major. Thus, when they finish secondary school, Libyan students have been studying English for a total of eight years.