Italy has allocated 25 scholarships to Libyan students among its program for foreign youth, which will be announced soon, Italian ambassador in Tripoli Giuseppe Buccino Grimaldi said Monday.
“A committee will be formed from the ministries of education in Libya and Italy to select the applicants according to the conditions established by the Italian Ministry of Education,” he stated.
Grimaldi met with Minister of Education in Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) Othman Abdel Jalil to discuss boosting bilateral cooperation and the scholarships offered by Italy.
Italy seeks to play a leading diplomatic role in ending the conflict in its neighbor country, which would solve the illegal migration crisis that has increased significantly since 2015. It also has extensive interests in the Libyan oil and gas fields.
Libya’s capital of Tripoli has been in the throes of deadly clashes over the past month between the Libyan National Army and GNA.
A total of 376 people, including 23 civilians, have been killed and 1,822 others, including 79 civilians, injured in the ongoing fighting since early April, according to the UN.
Education has ground to a halt in Libya as rival forces battle for the control of the capital.
The academic year has been suspended in conflict-affected areas, impacting some 122,000 children in nine municipalities near Tripoli.
Many schools have been closed as teachers are not able to go to work and parents are reluctant to send their children to school, fearing for their safety.
Ten schools in affected regions have been turned into collective centres hosting displaced families.
