This photograph is of me – Joshua Guy Blanchard Lewis (second from right) – with a group of medical students from the specialist science and medicine university Omar Mukhtar, near Al Bayda in Libya. I visited Libya last March with a team of students and camera crew from Cambridge University, Anglia Ruskin University and the World University Project. We toured various universities and faculties and experienced higher education life across the country.
Undergraduate education in Libya is free, while students are offered free accommodation at their campus to encourage them to live on-site. Nonetheless, strong family ties lead many students to remain at home – often to enjoy their mother’s cooking! The students in this picture had a great deal of pride in their facilities, which boasted top-notch new machinery. However, their library was significantly smaller than other universities in Libya, perhaps because of the focus on hands-on learning and long hours in the wards.
When we drew comparisons with the U.K. education system, which we are most familiar with, we were surprised at the determination of many students to remain at home with their parents, as with us living away from home is an integral part of the university experience! Similarly, our focus on wider reading and library work was noticeably different when compared to the Libyan system. It is cultural variations such as these which we are seeking to explore and share through the University Lives Collection.
