Libya: education
5 answers, 5 from Libya's own official bodies, with a link to each figure.
How many pupils are in school in Libya?
1,887,466 pupils and students were enrolled in general education in Libya in 2023-24, according to Ministry of Education figures in the Bureau of Statistics and Census Statistical Book 2024. 1,080,532 were in the first part of basic education, 486,010 in the second part and 268,584 in secondary school.
Girls made up 975,965 of the total. In secondary school there were 158,324 girls and 110,260 boys. The country had 4,824 general education schools, and classes averaged 26 pupils. 47,478 children attended kindergarten or pre-primary classes. The figures cover public general education.
How many children in Libya attend school?
96.3% of children of primary school age in Libya attended school, according to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2024-25 of the Bureau of Statistics and Census. The adjusted net attendance rate was 91.9% at lower secondary age and 82.6% at upper secondary age.
At upper secondary age girls were more likely to attend, at 87.0%, than boys, at 78.2%. 2.4% of primary-age children were out of school, rising to 31.8% in Al Kufrah. Attendance rates count children in school at the right level or higher, based on the survey interviews between August 2024 and January 2025.
How many pupils in Libya finish school?
97.8% of young people in Libya had completed primary school, according to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2024-25 of the Bureau of Statistics and Census. The lower secondary completion rate was 95.3% and the upper secondary rate 85.5%.
97.8% of children who finished the last grade of primary school went on to lower secondary school the following year. Completion rates measure the share of young people a few years above the official finishing age for each level who have completed it, so they reflect schooling over several earlier years.
How many young children in Libya attend pre-school?
69.1% of children in Libya took part in organised learning in the year before primary school, according to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2024-25 of the Bureau of Statistics and Census. 44.4% attended early childhood education and 24.7% had already started primary school.
The participation rate was 70.7% for girls and 67.5% for boys. 30.9% of children of that age attended neither. Ministry of Education figures in the Statistical Book 2024 show 47,478 children enrolled in kindergarten or pre-primary classes in 2023-24, in 1,971 classes.
How many students are at university in Libya?
404,970 students were enrolled at Libya's public universities and the Libyan Academy in 2023-24, according to Ministry of Higher Education figures in the Bureau of Statistics and Census Statistical Book 2024. 34,126 were expected to graduate that year.
The largest institutions were the University of Tripoli, with 74,365 students, and the University of Benghazi, with 65,665. The Open University had 23,904 and the Libyan Academy 20,805. The book also reports separate figures for private universities and colleges. Unemployment among university graduates was 14.0% in 2022, according to the labour force survey.
Official bodies in Libya
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Read on 14 October 2026. Definitions · Report an error