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ABSTRACT
DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOLS IN TWO ARAB STATES

OF NORTH AFRICA, WITH PARTICULAR ATTENTION
TO THE NATURE AND EFFECT OF FRENCH INFLUENCE

by Ronald Edward Eick

The study deals with the development of schools in
Tunisia and Egypt in three successive periods. Attention
is first directed to the foundations and history of Islamic
education; the second phase begins with the French invasions
of 1798 for Egypt and 1881 for Tunisia. Educational develop-
ment is traced, in the light of external influences, to the
establishment of the Republic of Tunisia and the United
Arab Republic. Finally, the current (post-independence)
systems are described and analyzed, again in terms of
possible external influence. The writer's position is that
the national systems of education established by the
Republic of Tunisia and the United Arab Republic demonstrate
French influence.

The intellectual or study method may be described as
historical-analytical-interpretive. Sources of data are
largely original English and French works, translations from
Arabic and Italian, government documents, study with Arabic
scholars, and interviews with officials of the Arab

governments.

Ronald Edward Eick

The writer's position is corroborated in both cases,
although influence in the United Arab Republic is somewhat
more subtle and complex than that in evidence in the Republic
of Tunisia. In both countries, however, the training of
North Africans in France and the presence of Frenchmen in
Arab Africa provided a common opportunity for influence.
European financial and commercial interests in the Middle
East were extended in the late nineteenth century to
include political and cultural interests. The continued
interchange of people across the Mediterranean provided a
major channel for the introduction of a European mode of
life. The second channel of influence is identified as
the language of communication. Although French language
institutions were largely superimposed on Tunisian national
life, in Egypt they were established side by side with
indigenous systems and operated independently. Consequently,
after seventy-five years under a French Protectorate,
Tunisia had almost become in substance what it was legally---
an overseas department of France. On the other hand, Egypt
was stirred by the mixed forces of a scientifically superior
modern secularism and the conservative traditions of the
Islamic past. The United Arab Republic has attempted a
compromise position, initiated in the last century of taking
from the West those techniques which would best serve a

revival of Arab unity under conditions of a modern,

Ronald Edward Eick
technologically-advance society. Although in both countries
the administrative structure, educational organization, and
the means of structuring an elite are analogous to the French
model, Tunisian dependence on France is more pronounced.
While Tunisia relies on France for teachers, her major
problem is one of training sufficient Arabic-language teachers.
The United Arab Republic, however, while recognizing a degree
of dependence on English and French sources, has set out to
train its own teachers of those languages, Educational
missions continue to be sent abroad as before.

The difference in the degree of French influence in
the two countries seems to rest in the different political
arrangements which existed with France. As a result of a
sustained and dominant role in Tunisia, the French position
seems more secure. In the United Arab Republic where the
French played neither a dominant nor sustained role, a
greater degree of Egyptian identity has been retained. By
means of people and language, however, French influence has

penetrated both national systems.

DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOLS IN TWO ARAB STATES
OF NORTH AFRICA, WITH PARTICULAR ATTENTION

TO THE NATURE AND EFFECT OF FRENCH INFLUENCE

BY

Ronald Edward Eick

A THESIS
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

College of Education

1965

A
u

a! ’ {I _, L: .a

711.17

PREFACE

In the nineteenth century, and in the early part of
the twentieth, international educational involvement generally
took two forms. A country would either establish in another
country the kind of schools peculiar to its own system, or it
would train persons from the other country in its home schools.
The United States, France, Britain, and others engaged in
these programs. American schools were established in the
Middle East and in Latin America, and the French had their
counterparts in Asia and Africa. Also, education for foreign
students in America became as commonplace as it had become in
Britain and on the Continent. The trend to import students
continued in widening proportions.

New trends in international education emerged in the
two decades following the Second World War. The United States,
having achieved internationally a position of political and
economic leadership, provided support to nations which had ex-
perienced major destruction. Such support resulted in American
involvement in the new, complex relationships which were unfolding
in all areas of the world. In this role as an active participant,
the United States became aware of a demand for more extensive
understanding in all areas of the world.

Secondly, many colonies, particularly on the African
continent, began a determined drive toward independent nation

ii

status. The repeated appearance of new members at the United
Nations is well—remembered. America attempted to stand by its
European allies and at the same time encouraged the cause of
independence for the new states, thereby acquiring prdblems
yet to be resolved,

Finally, universal education was viewed as necessary
by modern governments, In some independent republics of North
Africa, attempts to build a national system of free education
were ambitious and immediate. Though intended to demonstrate
to the citizenry the advantages of independence over conditions
of dependence, the ambitious efforts led to another dilemma.
Outside help was needed, but help from the expelled power
smacked of continued influence and could not be accepted, The
United States, consequently, became involved in affairs of the
many countries that needed and sought assistance, The assist-
ance varied in both intensity and scope, and, at times, it was
inimical to the interests of the previously-ruling nation or
of other patron nations. Such, however, was the situation in
which grew the new pattern of extending financial and material
aid for the purpose of educational development in other countries.

The new nations were nevertheless bound by old forces.
Insitutions in the colonial period had taken on a foreign air,
Government agencies were often dominated by personnel that was
European or European-trained, Plans or programs, indigenously
developed, were often curtailed or suppressed. Knowledge of
English or French was a pre-requisite to social or economic
advancement, and in numerous instances, one of these languages

iii

became the first language of the young African. Interdependence
of European and African economic interests, too, was pronounced.
An example of the African plight was contained in a statement

of Nigerian Prime Minister Balewa declaring that although he
could telephone NeW'York directly, he could not call his
neighboring countries without going through London or Paris.1

To this legacy, the method of foreign intervention through
material and financial aid would be added.

African states, now presumably free of a European
trustee, receive developmental assistance from multiple sources.
Britain, France, West Germany, the Soviet Union, the United
Arab Republic, and the United States have assisted financially
and materially. The resources of such collective agencies as
the World Bank, the various United Nations' sub-organizations,
and of private agencies of which the Ford Foundation is a
single example have also been available.

Regardless of whether the assisting governments act on
motives of philanthropy or of political self-interest, it is
significant that the former colonial powers are re-entering the
world scene as material and cultural benefactors. They help,
in fact, to create a growing reservoir of donor countries.

In this atmosphere some new nations are attempting to create
viable institutions which are truly national in character. In

this atmosphere some countries hope to revive or to re-create

 

lSir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, "Nigeria Looks Ahead,"
Foreign Affaizg, XLI, No. 1 (October, 1962), 137.

iv

‘4'

their former cultures by re-shaping their present institutions.
In both cases, national goals are being defined, and education
is viewed as the means toward their realization.

For us who are accustomed to long—established school
systems, the attempts of these nations offer a rare and ex-
citing opportunity to observe the evolution of new systems.
The unfolding of this opportunity has been facilitated for
me by the cooperation and assistance of many persons both in
North America and abroad. To them I acknowledge my debt
and gratitude.

Very special thanks are also due to the following:

Dr. Carl H. Gross, Chairman of the doctoral committee, for
his encouragement, counsel, and for his example as a teacher:
Dr.Fauzi Najjar, a distinguished Arabic scholar who was
chiefly responsible for my developing interest in studies
of the Middle East; Dr. Herbert C. Rudman for his painstaking
appraisal and suggestions for organization of material; Dr.
John Hanson whose depth of experience with African education
provided a valuable perspective to discussion of the thesis:
Dr. Alfred G. Meyer whose creative thought and exciting
lectures contributed so richly to the impetus for research.
and
To Aileen, Gerald, Christine, and Louise whose gifts of
patience and love have miraculously outlasted the preparation

of this work.

PREFACE O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0
LIST OF FI GIJRES O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter

I. THE ISLAMIC WORLD PRIOR TO THE NAPOLEONIC

II.

D III.

IV.

VII.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

IWASION O O O O O O O O O O O O O

ARRIVALOFTI-IEFRENCH........

THE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION IN THE UNITED
ARABREPUBLIC...........

TUNISIAN EDUCATION SINCE INDEPENDENCE

EDUCATION IN THE UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC:
AREAS OF POSSIBLE FRENCH INFLUENCE

EDUCATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF TUNISIA:
AREAS OF POSSIBLE FRENCH INFLUENCE

ASSESSMNT O O O O O O O O O I O O O

APPEme O O I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

BIBLIOGum . C O O O O O C O O O O O O O 0

vi

Page

ii

vii

34.

78

93

108

123

135

157

161

 

 

is“

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page

1. General Structure of the Ulema by Level .
of Authority in Relation to the Political
Hierarchy, ca. 17th Century . . ... . . . . . 27

2. General Organization of a Madrasa (Religious
Seminary) in the 18th Century . . . . . . . . 31

3. Number of Schools and Places Proposed by the
Department of Education under Muhammad
Ali: 1837 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 46

4. Egyptian Royal Family of Muhammad Ali . . . . . 48

5. Teachers and Students in Foreign Schools,
1927 "' 1928 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 65

6. Education in Egypt, 1946 . . . . . . . . . . . 68

7. Organization of Education in the United
Ar® Republic, 1963 O O O O O O O O O O O O O 81

8. Teacher Training Organization in the
United Arab Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

9. Organization of Education in Tunisia, 1963 . . 102

10. Comparison of School Enrollment by Level and
Type, United Arab Republic, 1953 and 1962 . . 153

vii

INTRODUCTION

Newly-independent territories have mutually experienced
political uncertainty, economic instability and a sense of
urgency about reconstructing their national institutions.
Despite the hope of new countries such as Tunisia and the
United Arab Republic for building educational systems which
reflect local and national aims, and despite their employment of
international resources for this purpose, there is reason for
examining the extent to which national systems have become dis—
tinctive. Have they assumed a character which is truly distin—
guishable from the colonial past? Edmund King has cautioned that
"those of us who live in the United States and Britain should
note that when a hitherto underdeveloped country wants an edu-
cational model, it does not often go to them; it goes to France."1
The French model, he points out further, "has been copied
extensively even in those Moslem countries which charge
France with colonial oppression."2 This seems to be substan-
tiated in a report on Tunisian education which admits that

"it may be too rigidly patterned after the French system."3

 

1Edmund J, King, Other Schools and Ours (New York:
Rinehart & C0,, 1958), p. 65.

21bid.

3Education in Tunisia (Washington: American Friends
of the Middle East, Inc., 1963), p. 11,

a.

 

2
For their part, the French expect their influence to
survive decolonization. The Minister of Cultural Affairs
for France has even asserted that "the imprint left by the
French continues to effect the thought and even the behavior
of the leadership."4

On the other hand, the governments of Tunisia and
the United Arab Republic have expelled some French institu-
tions as well as French officials, They appear to believe
that Arab society cannot be constructed according to non-

Arab patterns. To leaders of these national movements, the
suggestion of external influence may, in fact, be considered
as an affront,

This study is centered on the development of schools in
two Arab countries of North Africa, with particular attention
to the nature and effect of French influence. The writer's
position is that the national systems of education established
by the governments of the Republic of Tunisia and the United Arab
Republic demonstrate French influence.

.While that position may conceivably be extended to include
other African states, it is confined, here, to two republics
whose past relations with France have been quite different:
Tunisia and the United Arab Republic. Tunisia was a relatively
independent Ottoman territory constituting a Regency over
which a French protectorate was imposed in 1881. Egypt, on
the other hand, was also a province of the Turkish Empire,

experiencing only a brief period of French occupation by

 

4France, Revue de Defense National (Paris: February, 1962)
cited by Le Monde (Paris), February 1-7, 1962 (passage translated
by the writer).

 

mi

3
Napoleon's forces. Beyond that, there was no direct,
political tie between Egypt and France.

Both Tunisia and Egypt have had, in the past, highly
advanced and distinguished cultures, Each has in contemporary
times a prominent leadership role in the eastern Mediterranean
and Arab world. Tunisia, whose checkered past includes
Carthaginian, Roman, Byzantine, and Berber cultures, is an
important choice for two reasons. One of them is that geographi-
cally and culturally, Tunisia has embodied the bipolarity of East
and West. Jutting into the Mediterranean Sea, facing Sicily,
she has been, throughout the ages, a jumping-off—point for
Easterners moving west and for Westerners moving to the East,

Her northern view of Europe and the long eastern coast of

the Mediterranean confirm her linking position between the
diverse Mediterranean areas, In the period of Arab empire-
building, Islamic civilization was extended from the Tunisian
frontier to Sicily, Spain, and the Italian mainland, Later,
reversing direction, the Spanish Christians and the crusading
Frendh knights put Tunisian cities and Islam on the defensive
side. In our own time, the port in the Gulf of Tunis and

the deepawater, sheltered harbor at Bizerta have been crucial
points for the Allied forces in launching their westward campaign,
Likewise, the French attempted to use the same facilities in
their war with Algeria. Tunisia, then, as a meeting ground of
factions of the East and of the West is potentially an important
center for inter-cultural interpretation.

Second, the importance of Tunisia rests on her

4
position as an example to the other communities of North
Africa (the Maghrib). Again, that area is geographically
and culturally on the periphery of Islam. This has tended
to make development of the Maghrib different from that of
other areas of Muslim Africa. If that continues to be the
case, Tunisia may well provide a partial model for Algeria,
and possibly even for Morocco, by synthesizing the problems
to be faced.

The United Arab Republic may, likewise, be a proto-
type for the remainder of the Arab territories. Certainly,
the self—image of the present leadership embraces the concept
of centrality and prominence in the Arab community. It is
characterized by determination and an aggressive spirit.

In many ways, its efforts toward land reclamation and

economic resurgence as well as its trying struggle against
disease, ignorance, and a politically and religiously stagnant
past, are typical of the Arab plight. For this study, the
inclusion of the United Arab Republic as a logical and
desirable subject stems from its contact with colonial

powers and from its bellicose treatment of colonial institu-
tions. Its drive toward nationalism, spurred on by revolution,
makes its institutions particularly worthy of scrutiny in the
light of present beliefs and past sentiments.

Methods of research used in this study are chiefly
historical—analytical-interpretive. Sources of information
consist primarily of readings of original works in English
and French, reading of translations from Arabic and Italian,

and consultation with scholars and officials from the

countries concerned.

An undertaking of this kind does not escape the
limitations and pitfalls inherent in historical research.
Despite the measurement of one source against another,
reconstructions of the past or conclusions about it contain
a high degree of inference. Moreover, the conditions under
which influence could be exerted in the past no longer exist,
and the repetition of earlier methods is improbable.

In a discussion of African culture change, Malinowski
asserts, however, that "the whole range of European influences,
interests, good intentions, and predatory drives must become
an essential part of the study."5 In a further defense of
the historical approach, he states that to the extent that
we gain from "the lessons which can be drawn from past
blunders, misconceptions and wrong policies . . . history is as
important in its past stages as in its assessment of the
future."6 The writer believes that the efforts to understand
the African present are best realized when that present is
viewed in relation to a causal past, and that positively-
directed future development occurs in the presence of an over-
view of the past.

Although more attention is being directed to the
publication of materials relating to Arab intellectual and
social history, extensive study of the vital role of education
in contemporary Arab national development has gone unreported.

The priority of education in the actualization of national

 

5Bronislaw MalinowSki, The Dynamics of Culture Change,
ed. Phyllis M. Kaberry (New Haven: Yale University Press,
1961), p. 14.

51bid. , p. 33.

‘. (‘
J-

6

goals seems evident to the national leaders, judging from
the rapidity with which they have instituted or augmented
school programs. The writer believes that consideration of
the whole matter of instruction is required, for education
in these new countries is intricately related to social and
political innovations or alterations. Hopefully, this study
can make some contribution to the growing body of information
dealing with the varied facets of Arab national life.

Although the writer anticipates the appearance of
many similar or related studies within the next decade, the
catalog of American dissertations on foreign education contains
no entries at all for Tunisia. Education in the United Arab
Republic has been treated only in terms of specific curriculum
problems. A more broad and general treatment is necessary
before specific studies assume a working or useful significance.

The writer believes that either the corrdboration or
negation of his position would be significant. If education,
indeed, is the transmission of a culture, one would want to
determine which culture is, in fact, being transmitted. In
addition, a study of this sort may provide insight into the
ways in which cross-cultural influences took root; it may help
to form some generalizations about cultural Change; and finally
it may provide a much-needed description of emerging systems
of education in these areas of the Arab world.

A student of Arab affairs is confronted with single
names and the various transliterations of Arabic terms. For

the most part, responsible English equivalents will be used

7
in this paper. Where there is a question about translation,
the commonly-used transcription of the Arabic term will
follow the English meaning. Although Persian, Turkish, and
Arabic spellings vary throughout the literature (when applied to
words identical in meaning), consistency will be maintained
except when direct quotations make it impossible.
Even more difficult, perhaps, is the definition of

the term "Arab" itself. Bernard Lewis presents an excellent
resume of changes in definitions over a period of centuries,
and he concludes with:

that which regards the Arabic-speaking peoples as a

nation or group of sister nations in the European sense,

united by a common territory, language and culture and

a common aspiration to political independence.7
While that definition serves well the purpose of this study,
it should be noted that the emphasis is on language and culture.
Also, although in Tunisia the terms "Muslim" and "Arab" are
often used interchangeably, the practice is generally not
considered to be pr0per. While the Arab culture is deeply
embedded in Muslim tradition, the Arab need not be exclusively
Muslim. Obviously, a Muslim is not necessarily Arab.

As for the order of this work, consideration will

next be given to the socio-political setting of the two countries
and to their intellectual climate prior to direct contact with
the French culture. Following will be an examination of

cross-cultural contacts, the zero-point of contact being

established as 1798 for Egypt and as 1881 for Tunisia.

 

7Bernard Lewis, The Arabs in History (New York:
Harper & Brothers, 19607: p. 17.

8

To give meaning to a historical past, attention
must subsequently focus on the historical future. In the
succeeding chapters, then, emphasis is given to study of
emerging or surviving educational institutions and on
tendencies or trends in their development. Such institutional
developments after 1956 in Tunisia and after 1952 in the
United Arab Republic will be considered in terms of their
similarity to the French system and the probablity of French

influence.

‘!

CHAPTER I
THE ISLAMIC WORLD PRIOR TO THE NAPOLEONIC INVASION

Arab history shows that the periods of nationalism
were separated by a wide gap which extended from the end of
the eighth century to the beginning of the twentieth. The
interval was marked by many changes. In the opinion of this
writer, none of the stages of development can be omitted from
study if an understanding of the intellectual climate is to be
attained. The first reason for this belief is that modern Arab
countries cannot ignore the past, themselves. They are, in fact,
faced with the problem of reconciling the past with the present.
Secondly, since time has virtually stood still for many people
of Arab lands, the past is not so remote for them as it is for
people on this continent. The absence of change in their customs
has, in effect, caused the past to appear as a constant present.

Although Muhammad received the Word and his commission
as the last of God's messengers in 610 A.D., the Muslim calendar
dates from 622, the year of the flight (H2153) of Muhammad from
Mecca to Medina. The Islamic era is generally regarded as be-
ginning in that year.

The period under review in this chapter extends from
that time to the end of the eighteenth century. It may be
divided into three distinct parts, including (1) the rise of

Islam and the ensuing period of Arab conquest, (2) liquidation

9

c)

t)

IN

10
of the Arab Empire at a time of intellectual productivity, and

(3) decline under the Turkish rulers. It is the last period
of decline and eventual stagnation that provided the setting
for French occupation. While that condition accounted for no
brief time in Islamic history, it is to be viewed in the light
of previous episodes, embracing the span and variation of Arab
cultural develOpment.
The First Century of Islam

The quarrelsome tribes of western Arabia found a measure
of unity in the monotheistic religion of Muhammad. His early
work was directed toward the re—organization of economic and
political life of the Medinese community which was characterized
by factionalism and devotion to tribal authority. In the process
of re-defining community structure, however, the Prophet's faith
replaced blood-line as the unifying factor within the community
of believers (HEEE)- Unlike the pattern of the blood feud,
unity was to be sought through arbitration and achieved under
direction of the religious leader or Sheikh. "The source of
authority was transferred from public Opinion to God who con-
ferred it on Muhammad as His Chosen Apostle."l This seemingly
natural transposition of authority, the convergence of religious
civil authorities into one being, established the rationale for
the caliphate and administration of the future empire. "As long
as Muhammad lived he performed the functions of prOphet, lawgiver,
religious leader, chief judge, commander of the army and civil

"2

head of the state---all in one. His successor (the caliph)

 

lBernard Lewis, The Arabs in History (New York: Harper
Brothers, 1960), p. 43.

2Philip K. Hitti, The Arabs (Chicago: Henry Regnery
Company, 1949), p. 62.

G

.5

11

would carry on the role, that of prophet being excepted.
Furthermore, as Muhammad encountered resentment or hostility
from non—Arab-Muslim groups, he embellished the faith with a
more distinctively Arab and national facade. That could have been
the basis of the concept of "Arab" and "Muslim" as companion, if
not synonomous terms.3

In the process of Arabicization, however, the concept
of Arab nationalism became transformed to Muslim universalism.4
Like the merger of religious and civil authority within the
.HEEEI religious and political objectives of the Arab community
dissolved into a single goal and plan. Having had only limited
success in Mecca, Muhammad turned his attention to the city
of Medina. Then with the help of his Meccan followers and the
Medinese converts, he was able to return to Mecca in victory.
Despite dissension in the religious ranks, particularly after
the Prophet's death, the Muslims reached out to bring other
Arabian tribes under their law. After this was accomplished,
even in a limited way, "the Arabs rushed out of their Peninsula
to conquest, a people chosen by God to make His law know to
the infidels, and at the same time to enjoy the worldly benefits
to which their privileged position entitled them."5 It appears
to the writer that the latter was more the case. While the

newefound faith or religion had served to exalt the Arab ego,

 

3Lewis,_o_p_. cit.. PP. 42, 58.

4H. A. R. Gibb and Harold Bowen, Islamic Society and the

West (London: Oxford University Press, 1957), Vol. I, Pt. II, p. 71.

5Francesco Gabrieli, The Arab Revival, trans. Lovett F.
Edwards (London: Thames and Hudson, 1961), pp. 10—11.

.l

12
it tended to stimulate a militant outlook rather than a
missionary zeal. Certainly, the unity which had been realized
in the area of Muhammad's activity (the Hijaz) was of a political
nature. Even though the developing framework of religious tenets
may have been, for Muhammad, a motivating factor, they were a
secondary consideration for those whom he enlisted.

By the eighth century A.D. the Islamic Empire stretched
from Spain and the Atlantic to Central Asia. The caliphs of
Mecca had expired, and the seat of supreme authority had been
removed to Damascus. The administrative hierarchy which extended
throughout the empire in those days continued to be Arab, though
not necessarily of the Prophet's Meccan tribe (the Quraish).

Within that vast, sprawling territory, "wide variations
in language, in culture, in prior religious tenets, and in
customs and institutions precluded any prospect of early unifi-
cation."6 It was, indeed, a varied assortment of provinces and
people over which the caliph tried to exert his prestige. Alfred
Guillaume describes the pattern of Arab occupation as follows:

Garrison towns generally on the edge of the desert were

occupied or formed when there was no existing town there,

and these became the centres of Arab government. To them

the inhabitants of the country came to market their produce
and wares, and through them the knowledge of Arabic gradually
permeated the country. All non-Muslims had to pay a tax, and
this disability not unnaturally led to a vast access of con-
verts to Islam. Such converts theoretically became Arabs

by attaching themselves as clients (mawali) to some Arab
tribe. These towns housed a large number of civilian em—
ployees from the occupied country, and they performed such

services as a military community requires of its civilian
dependants [sicfl . 7

 

6Gibb and Bowen, 9p. cit., p. 70.

7Alfred Guillaume, Islam (Edinburgh: R. & R. Clark Ltd.,
1961)! p. 80.

a),

13

As Gibb and Bowen have pointed out, the implantation of
a small ruling Arab group in each of the provinces had major
consequences.8 In the first place, Islam became further
associated with so-called Arabdom, in the minds of both the
governing and the governed.9 This gave the particular religious
practices Of the rulers the status of orthodoxy and the appearance
Of a state Church. Moreover, identification with Arab ways and
language became the means of acceptance and social advancement
rather than the adOption Of the Islamic religion. The other
important effect Of the association Of Arabs and Islam was that
it caused "those who accepted Islam but who were hostile to the
governing classes to lean towards the sectarian rather than the
'established' interpretation Of the religious creed."10

Thus, Islam experienced a reformation in its first century.
Not only were there two contending orthodox parties, called
Sunnites, but the Opposition party (Shi'ite) split into differing
factions. As the number Of converts increased, so did the
divisive Character of the political entities. The struggle for
recognition and the right to exercise the power and authority
Of the caliphate continued between the two major Opponents, the
Sunnites and the Shi'ites. The dilemma was never resolved. As
one sect or another came to be dominant in parts or provinces
of the Arab Empire, the whole matter Of the caliphate came, in
fact, to have minor overt importance. Instead, it has remained

as a symbolic focal point Of the differences between Muslim sects.

 

8Gibb and Bowen, QB. cit., p. 71. 9Cf. p. 11.

10Gibb and Bowen, loc. cit.

 

14
Intellectual Progress Under the Arab Dynasties

The Abbasid Dynasty.--Whereas the removal of the Arab

 

capital to Damascus in 659 had marked the end Of the Muslim
theocracy, the establishment of the third capital at Baghdad

in 750 signalled the end of hopes for a politically united empire.
The setting up of a rival dynasty in Spain added momentum to a
series of events which spelled fragmentation, even though the
Arabs were still expanding their holdings through conquest.

Also under the Abbasids at Baghdad, the Old class differences

 

were considerably diluted. The former structure, with NeO-Muslims,
members Of "tolerated religions", and slaves, trailing Arabian
Muslims in rank order, was, in fact, a cause in the unseating
Of the Umayyads.11 The resulting "mixed" society of Baghdad
became the vehicle of intellectual progress. There, Arab life
encountered Persian and Indian culture alongside Greek works

on philosophy, science, and mathematics. An academy of trans-
lators was established by the Caliph Mamoun in 813 A. D. There,
Christians, Muslims, and Jews cooperated in the task Of trans-
lating Greek manuscripts into Arabic, Often by way of Syriac.
"NO field Of Greek learning, from philosophy to mathematics,

12 The Arabic translations

medicine and botany, was neglected."
and commentaries were subsequently elaborated upon by western
Arabs Of Sicily and Spain; and it was continually through Spain
and its Latin translation centers that Arab writings reached

Europe. Philosophers are particularly aware of the impact on

 

11Edward Atiyah, The Arabs (Edinburgh: R. & R. Clark Ltd.,
1958), p. 42.

 

12Rom Landau, The Arab Heritage of Western Civilization
(New YOrk: Arab Information Center, 1962), p. 11.

 

a)

15
Christian scholasticism by such writers and commentators as
Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Ibn Rushd (Averoees), Al-Farabi, and
Maimonides. Bourke states that these Muslim and Jewish writers
"play almost as great a role in his [Thomas Aquinas'] scholarly
documentation as do Christian authors and the Bible."13 Jewish
scholars such as Levi ben Gerson and Yehuda ben Solomo Cohen
also used Arabic language in their work.14
Whether the area of study was philosophy or science,
however, it was invariably related to some aspect Of Muslim
religion. The necessity of facing Mecca during prayer, for
example, stimulated the development Of direction-finding devices.
The need for equal division Of land among male heirs brought
about adaptation and advancement in mathematics. Similarly,
the required Observances during the feast Of Ramadan and the
inclusion Of a pilgrimage to the Holy Cities during one's lifetime
re-emphasized studies in astronomy and geography. Achievement
in academic fields has been detailed by Professor Landau in
various articles and booklets, Of which a summary appears in
Appendix I.
Hitti notes that the conglomeration of persons contributing
to Arab knowledge was one Of the most significant facts Of
Islamic civilization. He explains as follows:
The Arabic-speaking man, hitherto but an Arabian, has
thus become international. When we therefore speak Of
“Arab medicine" or "Arab philosophy" or "Arab mathematics"
we do not mean the medical science, philosophy or mathematics
that are necessarily the product of the Arabian mind or
developed by people living in the Arabian peninsula, but

that body Of knowledge enshrined in books written in the
Arabic language by men who flourished chiefly during the

 

13Selections from the Writings of St. Thomas, ed. Vernon
J. Bourke (New York: washington Square Press, 1960), p. xx.

l4Landau, 22, cit., p. 25.

 

16
caliphate and were themselves Persians, Syrians, Egyptians
or Arabians, Christian, Jewish or Moslem, and who may have
drawn some of their material from Greek, Aramaean, Indo-
Persian or other sources.
Quite evidently, Arabic literature and science did not

flourish exclusively under the tutelage of the Abbasids. The

 

removal Of the capital eastwards had, in fact, resulted in
indifference to much of the western area. Consequently, rival
dynasties were established in Spain, Morrocco, and Tunisia in

the early years of the Abbasids' rule. Rival though they were,
these dynasties produced their own scholars: and their cities
served as channels of information to Europe. The significance

Of the Abbasid capital in Baghdad lay in its vital position as

a trading center and ultimately as an intellectual center.
Through it, Chinese paper and Hindu numerals, along with original
Arab works, made their way to Europe by way of the western Muslim
provinces. By the tenth century, the literary and religious
language Of the Arabs had become the language Of diplomacy and
science throughout much of the Mediterranean world.

Aside from religion and language, perhaps the most
original and universally pleasing contribution was in the field
of Arab art and architecture. The delicate Arabesque designs
(resulting partly from the Muslim view that representation of
the human form was idolatrous) have been admired by art lovers
throughout the world. The architectural styles of the minaret,
the mosques themselves, and the luxurious Muslim palaces were

studied and duplicated in the churches and castles of England,

 

15Hitti,'gp. cit., p. 100.

17
France, and Italy. While the literary works Of the tenth and
twelfth centuries are highly esteemed by Arabists, they have
not been so widely appreciated by westerners unfamiliar with
Semitic languages. The esoteric quality of Arabic poetry has
not been extended to visual art forms.

By the middle of the thirteenth century, the Arabs had
turned to building fortresses. The great Muslim center at
Cordova was regained by the European Christians in 1236, and
Baghdad was plundered by the Mongols in 1258. Although Granada
was not re-taken by the Christians until 1492, the Spanish
Muslims were, to a great extent, driven back to North Africa
long before. While the Muslims were expelled from Spain, the
Mongol invaders, on the other hand, adOpted Islam as the Seljuq
Turks had done before and as the Ottomans did after them.

Beginning of the Fatimids.--This dynasty, whose caliphs

 

were descendants Of the Prophet's daughter, Fatima, represented
a further split of the Shi'ite Muslims. Part of a group called
the Isma'ili, it established itself in Yemen, India, and in
North Africa. Its first caliphs had their headquarters in

Tunisia beginning in 908. The Fatimids conquered Egypt in 969,

 

and a century later, they had all Of North Africa, Sicily, Syria,

and western Arabia in their sphere Of influence.16

Egypt
prospered under Fatimid rule, largely as a result of the
development Of lucrative trade agreements with countries of

western Europe.

The Fatimid regime was headed by "the infallible Imam,

 

l6Lewis,‘9_p. cit., p. 112.

18
an absolute monarch, ruling by hereditary right transmitted by
the divine will through a divinely ordained family."17 The
highly centralized government included three separate hierarchies.
Two of them, the military and bureaucratic branches, were
directed by a civilian chief executive (Wazir) who was immedi-
ately responsible to the caliph. The third branch, the religious,
was headed by a sort Of missionary-in-chief. As director Of
the department which was in charge of all higher schools of

learning as well as the Isma'ili pr0pagandist organization,

 

the religious leader could exercise political influence, too.18

The Fatimids and their successors make up an important area of

 

study because of their organization of education as a means of
religious and civil control. It is also because the Fatimid
institutions survived successive invasions that they deserve
special attention.

Muslim Law and the Sects.--Because the foundations of

 

Egyptian education rested on sectarian differences, it is
necessary to examine briefly the structure and content of
Islam before proceeding with its application to education.

Like the Torah and the Talmud of the Hebrew community,
the Koran and the Traditions (Hadith) served as the guide for
Muslim life. The Koran as a book of sayings of Muhammad (as
revealed by God) and the Hadith as a record of the activities
Of the PrOphet provided the basis for both religious and civil
law. Consequently, the laws Which were evolved from those
sources were ethical in substance rather than legal. For Muslims,

there is a pattern of behavior which ought to be followed,

 

l71bid., p. 113. lBIbid.

19
"both individually and in community. There is a proper form
Of human conduct: vis—a-vis the God who made us..., and vis-a-vis

our fellows. There is a right way to live."19 The concern, then,

 

is not necessarily so much for "right-believing" as for practice
according to a Special code.

In any situation for which the Koran did not possess the
clear dictates, one turned to the Hadith to discover how the
Prophet would have dealt with a similar matter. Because the
alleged doings of Muhammad were recorded by various people (of
varying beliefs) over a period of a century, the Hadith was
held Open to doubt, challenge, and disbelief. Particularly as
sects developed within Islam, a similar heterodoxy became
evident in matters of application of law. That is, not only
were there differences in beliefs among Muslims, but the par—
ticular set of beliefs held by each group determined their
selection and interpretation Of Muslim law. Aside from divergent
sectarian views, many Of the desert nomads (bedouins) maintained
the former tribal laws and customs which pre-dated Muhammad.
Even within the Sunnite group, four different schools of law
evolved, "each of which recognized the orthodoxy of the others

20 Whichever school

and tolerated their divergences Of detail."
was called upon to render a decision, it did so on the basis
Of consensus (icma') within that particular school or rite.

The decision was considered to have validity equal to that

ascribed to revelation and PrOphetic Tradition, and it was not

 

19Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Islam in Modern History (New York:

The New American Library Of World Literature, 1959), pp. 18-19.
Gibb and Bowen,_gp. cit., p. 115. (The schools or rites

 

20

were Hanefi, Maliki, Safi'l and Hanbali. Despite a ruler's own
preference, he made judicial appointments from all of the rites.)

20
Open to further controversy. Each expressed opinion was "secured
by tacit assent on the part of those who were most qualified to
express an Opinion, and from whom the rank and file took their

cue."21

It is also significant that the Sunnite Muslims counted
among them "the Court, aristocracy, and army, the bureaucracy,
the Ulema or representatives of the orthodox religious institu-

22 The

tion, and all who were associated with these groups."
aim of the Sunnite leaders was to preserve the religion despite
any political changes.

The Shi'ites' support came chiefly from the lower classes
and from frontiersmen. In the role of an Opposition group, they
were more aggressive in their aims.23 Being fewer in number,
however, they confined their early activity to underground and
propaganda techniques. When they came to Egypt and faced a
largely Sunnite population, they resorted to persuasion rather

than force.

Fatimid Education.--The distinct features Of this Isma'ili

 

sect were all related to education in a broad sense.24 The first
involved the divine right of the Imam to rule over the Muslim
theocracy, The people, consequently, had to learn that Obedience
to the Imam was proper and deserved. Secondly, because the

Fatimids were lineal descendants of the PrOphet, they claimed,

 

likewise, to be heirs Of the twenty per cent share Of income

 

211bid., p. 72, 22Ibid., pp. 71-72.

23Holy'War was, in fact, one Of the Fatimid Pillars of
Faith which the Sunnites did not share.

 

24Bayard Dodge, Al-Azhar: A Millennium Of Muslim Learning_
(Washington: The Middle East Institute, 1961), chap. I.

 

21
which Muhammad had received from followers. The Fatimid agents
set out to convince the people that the contribution was a
religious duty rather than a payment Of taxes. The third
feature hinged on the infallibility of the Imam. Regarding

the doctrines of the Koran, the Fatimids interpreted these as

 

a "public form" of revelation, claiming that a special under-
standing had been conveyed tO the Prophet's son-in-law, Ali,
from whom the Fatimids were descendant. Ali, in turn, had
imparted this special form of understanding to the successive
Imams. Hence, their word and deed were beyond question. In
order to train jurists to carry out his decisions, however,
the Imam had to give instruction in law, since he was the only
person endowed with that high degree of knowledge. Finally,

because Of the special understanding which the Fatimids possessed,

 

they were free to pursue studies which did not involve the
Koran. These characteristics which distinguished the Fatimids
from their Sunnite brothers constituted the underlying reasons
for establishing a more formalized educational institution.
Aside from the desire for scholarly pursuit, they had "to teach
the legal authorities how to introduce the Fatimid system Of
jurisprudence, to take the place Of the Sunnite codes. The other
reason was to train propaganda agents to win proselytes for the
Fatimid cause."25

The great Fatimid Mosque Of Al-Azhar in Cairo had been
completed in the third year after the conquest of Egypt, and

it provided the logical setting for the training program.

 

251bid., p. 13.

22
Lectures and discussions were conducted following the Friday
prayer service. As inducement and convenience, scholars were
soon awarded both living quarters and stipends. Dodge reports
that next to the Koran, textbooks that were taught included

The Vizier's Epistle on Shi'ite Jurisprudence (written by a

 

brilliant, converted Baghdad Jew) and Differences in the Funda-

 

mentals of the Sects.26 Aside from this pre—occupation with

 

law and exegetics, there was some teaching of reading and
writing based on recitations from the Koran.

Early in the eleventh century, a second teaching mosque,
later called Dar Al-Hikma, was Opened. Under the direction of
its founding caliph, the new mosque apparently threatened to
eclipse the Azhar for a time. Al-Azhar continued to emphasize
Koranic studies while Dar Al—Hikma seems to have had a following
of students Of science and philOSOphy. Nevertheless, "high
Officials vied with one another in improving the living quarters
for the students, beautifying the building, enlarging the col-
lection Of manuscripts and strengthening the courses."27

The establishment of endowments was of benefit to all
institutions. Real estate investments in perpetuity guaranteed
the survival Of the schools, the provision of staff, and sub-
sidies for pupils. These endowments (Awqaf), as part of Muslim
tradition, were administered by religious foundations set up
especially for that purpose. The foundations and the endowments
have continued to the present time.

Successive caliphs added to the pomp and structure of

the famous Al-Azhar, but the Fatimid caliphate, itself, was

 

2612111.. pp. 16-17. 2711121.. p. 21.

23
weakening. By the beginning Of the twelfth century, the

Isma'ili sect which the Fatimids represented split into two

 

 

competing factions; and finally, under pressure of the Christian

Crusades, the Fatimids had to rely on the Abbasids from Baghdad

 

 

for protection. It was in this manner that the Fatimid dynasty
succumbed to an Abbasid caliph in Cairo. The whole of Egypt
was, thus, regained by the Sunnites.

The Ayyubis and the Mamelukes.--The Ayyubi dynasty at

 

Cairo was Officially recognized by the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad
in 1175. Although it ruled Egypt for less than a century, that
dynasty and that period marked the beginning of many more
centuries of Arab-Muslim decline. From their earliest years,
the Ayyubis were hamperedby internal strife brought on by
famine and economic failures and by external pressure in the
form of the Crusaders and invasions from the northeast.
Moreover, the rulers were faced with the task Of reversing

Fatimid, Shi'ite education---particularly Shi'ite jurisprudence.

 

TO this end, over thirty colleges were established in and

around Cairo for the teaching of the preferred branch Of Ayyubi.
Sunnite law (Safi'i rite).28 Among its peculiarities, the
Safi'i rite recognized the Observance Of Friday prayers at

only one mosque in a city. Al-Azhar was, subsequently, aban-
doned for the famous Friday sessions. After decades of
occupying this secondary position, it was revived in the form

of other Sunnite institutions, all of which exemplified devotion

to studies Of Arabic language, Koranic exegesis, and Muslim law.

 

281bid., p. 40.

24

With the assumption of power by ex-slave Mamelukes in
1250, the curriculum of the mosque-colleges remained relatively
unchanged.29 The fervor was likely augmented, because under a
chiefly Turkish-speaking ruling class, the religious institu-
tions were charged with the responsibility of preserving the
Arabic language and the customs of Islam. The age of Arabic
scholarship had passed.

In the two and one-half centuries Of Mameluke rule, Egypt
reached a new peak in artistic and architectural productivity30
as well as in political prominence within the Arab-Muslim world.
Historians seldom fail to mention the quantity and excellence
Of the artistic achievements under the least artistic regime.
Successive additions were made to Al-Azhar as well as to other
mosques in Cairo. Students and teachers from North Africa and Iraq
sought the refuge Of Cairo. Perhaps the last great scholar Of
the period, ibn-Khaldun, came from his native Tunisia to lecture
at Al-Azhar in 1382.31 Although the influx Of students may
have partly resulted from the widely-known prestige Of Al-Azhar,
it must be Observed that Cairo replaced Baghdad as the Arab
cultural center, following the devastating invasions of Iraq
by the Mongols. As such, Cairo may have been an Arab haven.

As a center of intellectual activity, however, Cairo, like the

other Arab capitals, lost its prominence.

 

29The Mamelukes came to power following the marriage Of
one Of their powerful Officers to the widow Of the Ayygbi Sultan.

3°Hitti, pp. cit., pp. 244-45.

31Dodge..22. cit., p. 68.

25

On the eve Of the EurOpean renaissance which had been,
in part, abetted by Arab academics, the Arab world was in a
slump. Subjected to the excesses of savagery and luxury of
the fifteenth century Mameluke sultans, the Arabs took on an
appearance Of indolence and lethargy. The coming of the Ottoman
Turks was only the last of a chain of events that rendered them
comatose-—-a condition that would endure until the twentieth
century.

The Ottoman Turks and the Arab Middle Ages

In the sixteenth century, the divergent Arab societies
from Iraq to Morocco and from Syria to Yemen were re-united
under the rule Of the Ottomans Of western Turkey. The new
ruling group, though not Arabic-speaking, was nevertheless of
the same Muslim faith. As a governing body, the Turks, at best,
were no worse than the Mameluke predecessors. Gabrieli states
that the Turkish example of misgovernment "distributed its evils
impartially wherever it tOOk root" and that as for the Arabs,
they had "long since fallen into such a state of profound
material and spiritual decadence that the loss Of independence

32 Classical Arabic had de-

could hardly make matters worse."
clined almost tO the point Of a dead language; and the Islamic
religion, once irresistible and stimulating, drifted into an
atrOphied state Of orthodoxy. This had a natural effect on
Muslim education, and eventually education contributed toward

the preservation Of the decayed state.

Education in the home provided the basis for attitudes

 

32Gabrieli, 9p. cit., p. 28.

.3

26

which characterized Islamic society. These attitudes reflected
discipline, respect for elders, and submission to authority.
In homes where parents could afford tutors, reading and writing
were sometimes included with Koranic studies. Even them'the
reading textbook would be the Koran, and the sentences to be
written would consist of passages memorized from the Koran.
Hence, "the sole type Of education accessible in the Islamic
lands was one not only based upon but consisting almost ex-
clusively of religious instruction."33

Although the limitations Of such religious education
may make it appear narrow, indeed, the Arabs were at a distinct
advantage in comparison to their conquerors. The chief language
of Koranic education was, naturally, Arabic; and Arabic was
not the language Of the Turks nor was it taught in the so-called
Turkish homelands. While Turkish students memorized verses
from the Koran, the Arab students had the means to understand
at least some of what they memorized.

Religion comprising the substance of education, both
were in the hands Of the Ulema, those equipped with the knowledge
Of Islam. (See figure 1 for general organization Of the glggg.)
The Ulema were consequently in the business of training more
members for their hierarchical ranks. Bearing in mind the
relationship (theoretical or practical) between religion and
daily life, one sees that the Ulema were in a position of
potentially great influence. This influence was not necessarily

confined to religious aspects of life, but it could extend itself

 

33Gibb and Bowen, gp. cit., p. 139.

-9

VIP

27

4-

 

IMAM SUBLIME FORTE NAKIBa
(Caliph-pretender) (Sultan of Turkey)
SHEIKH'l-ISLAMP DIWAN wnzrnc

(Council of Ministers)

GRAND MUFTI (NOn-religious, legal scholar)
MUCTAHID (Doctor Of Law)
GREAT MOLLA
KADI-ASKER (Chief Justices in the
CHIEF KADI Turkish or provincial
capital)

Empire

 

lProvince]

PROVINCIAL SULTAN or PASHA (Governor)

LESSER MOLLA PROVINCIAL MUFTI
(Lord) (Jurisconsult)

KADI ORDINARY KADI NA'IB
(Judge) (Local judge) (Deputy)

 

 

MILITARY OFFICERS AND GUARDS
SHEIKH OF THE UNIVERSITY MOSQUE (Rector)

SHEIKHd HATIBe

MUDERRIS (Master) WA'IZ (Preacher)
MU'ID (Assistant) WéPrayer leader)
FIKI (Elementary teacher) KAYYIM MU' EZZIW

Community

Fig. 1. --General structure of the Ulema

by level of authority in relation to the
political hierarchy, ca. 17th century

 

 

aHead of the organization Of nOble descendants
(Serifs) Of the PrOphet.

bReligious appointee equal to the Wazir but
potentially more powerful than the Sultan whom the
Sheikh' 1- Islam could have deposed by religious edict.

cChief executive, responsible to the Porte.

dA professor in charge of a residence or department.

SSultan's representative at the mosque service.

fSupervisor Of mosque services---not necessarily
a part Of the Ulema.

gCaller to prayer, chosen for voice quality---
not necessarily a part of the Ulema.

 

 

28
through the political-religious posts which Islamic society
recognized. Situated at the head of this political organization
and somewhat above the structure of religious occupations was
the Turkish ruling class. Because Of their training and interests,
the Turks concerned themselves with administration and exploita-
tion Of the widespread territory. Recognizing the threat of
the deposed Mamelukes in their continuing capacity as landlords
and wanting to obviate any rebellious acts Of the indifferent
Arabs, the Turks welcomed the stabilizing effect which the
reactionary attitude of the Ulema could have. The entrusting
Of so large a sphere Of social control to the hands of local,
respected figures had the effect of making allies of the con-
quered peOple. As a result, the aim Of education was the
preservation Of Islam and the reproduction of the Ulema who
would supervise both the practice of Islam and of education.

The need for large numbers of local administrators must
have influenced the Turks to support education. for support it
they did. In Egypt, the remodelling and enlargement of Al-Azhar
continued with the vigorous support Of the Sultan and his Vice-
roy. If curtailment Of the curriculum prevented it from regain-
ing its former brilliance, at least it came to dominate education
in Egypt once more. Of the hundreds Of mosque-college complexes
in and around Cairo, it served its purpose of training social
servants for the Turkish Empire and more specifically for the
Province Of Egypt. Similarly, the Zaytouna Mosque of Tunis
must have formed the center Of Tunisian studies.

From this point of time and place, it is difficult to

imagine how loosely organized Egyptian education was. It is

29
probable that most schools were attached to a mosque. At times,
the mosque itself served as a school. Actually, no building
was required; and certainly none was supported by the government.
Such buildings as did exist were indebted to "the munificence
Of the rich, who founded them and assigned endowments for their
upkeep, in some cases sufficient also to feed and clothe a

4 I O
3 Teachers sometlmes received a

number Of poor scholars."
small salary from the endowment. Sometimes they were paid
by the parents, and Often they did not expect to receive any
earnings from teaching.35 The appointment of teachers was
usually the responsibility Of the founder's descendant who
acted as administrator of the endowment. There was apparently
no inspection of classes, and any external control was limited
to finance.

As in the case of private tutoring, learning in the
Koran schools (Kuttab) was limited to memorization of verses
from the Koran. Difficult as it is to master the language of
the Koran, itkwas not a study which stimulated thought or dis-
cussion. In some cases, children were taught to read and write.
"Simple arithmetic may sometimes have been taught, but was more
Often learnt [gig] from the public weigher (kabbani) or village
land-measurer (massah)."36 For those few who went to school
at all, these studies and recitations were the common base,
whether or not the pupil was going on to a madrasa or mosque-

college.

 

341bid., p. 140.

35Itwas customary among some members Of the Ulema not to
derive personal income from their religious work. Instead, they
worked at some other job in order to earn a living.

36Gibb and Bowen, loc. cit.

 

1’)

30

Students at the madrasa would first take up additional
studies of the Koran, for it was assumed that no one teaChing
in a kuttab knew classical Arabic well enough to teach it.
Recitation, Arabic language, grammar, rhetoric, rhyme, and
intonation Of the Koran made up the early years of study.
(See figure 2 for the structure and general content of studies
at a madrasa.)

Although there were grades or levels Of competence to
be passed, it must be understood that no grade was Of fixed
duration, there were no specific examinations, and passing
from one grade to another was a purely individual matter.
Students were free to listen in on whatever lectures and
lecturers they chose. When a lecturer or teacher was satisfied
that a pupil had mastered the book or books pertaining to that
level, a license (32252) was issued, and the pupil was eligible
to try for the next license.

While the size and staff of a madrasa undoubtedly
affected the number of levels or Offerings, the maximum
number Of twelve was certainly included in the major urban
mosques. A pupil who had mastered the texts for subjects
mentioned above would likely possess four or five licenses.37
In that case, he could proceed to studies Of Islamic Tradition,
theology, Shari'ah law, exegesis and commentary regarding the
Koran. Medicine was the only significant subject taught outside

Of the "religious sciences". In medicine as in other fields,

 

37Students were prevented from using notes during their
first four years Of study since it was felt that they would either
become confused or that they would develOp heretical ideas. The
highly regarded method of memorization was the only one considered
reliable at the early levels (Dodge, op. cit., p. 135).

31

 

 

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32
however, the import of printed books was forbidden; and the
printing Of books by Muslims was, likewise, prohibited until
the eighteenth century.38
Large prOportions of students did not complete the
twelve stages of madrasa education. Instead, those leaving
at various points in the upper six grades would qualify for
positions as local judges (ordinary kadis), provincial jurists
(Muggi), teaching assistant in the lower grades (mgLig), or

prayer leader. Thosequalifying for the full range of licenses

were regarded as masters (muderris), and they could begin taking

 

pupils Of the elementary level. Whether they were assigned to
village mosques or to the great mosque-colleges, they had to
begin at the bottom and progress, as teachers, through all of
the stages which they had entered as pupils. Also as teachers,
they belonged to one Of three status groups which indicated
their position in the.HlSE2- Group differentiation was
reflected nOt only by prestige but by mode Of dress and
salary as well.

Particularly in the Turkish capital, higher teaching
posts led to judicial Office. Minor clerks in the ruling estab-
lishment and judges in major centers (Mollas) were also recruited
from the ranks Of teachers. Outside Of Istanbul, schooling
became mechanical, politically involved, and corrupt. "Education
had ceased to set before itself even the hope Of moulding society
in the direction of its ideals, and had sunk to the level Of

merely holding society together by the inculcation of tradition."39

 

38Gibb and Bowen, pp. cit., p. 151. 39113131., p. 160.

33
Licenses were issued freely to relatives Of thqulgma and of
government Officials. The teaching ranks became so swollen
that positions were eventually filled through a compulsory

annual rotation system. The title of master (muderris) came

 

to indicate a source of income, and in some instances, teachers
did not even attend their classes. Instead, they engaged
substitutes (hocas) of uncertain abilities. The accumulating
effect on the quality of education can be readily comprehended.
Under the Ottoman regime, the forces of the Arab-Muslim
world were exhausted. The willingness Of the Ulema to collaborate
with the ruling class in exchange for a free hand in just about
everything except revenue matters precluded any possibility
Of change from within. Not only did Islamic education shrivel
and decline but the Ulema seemed to be unaware Of the alterations.
One is inclined to wonder if they cared any longer. Into that
saddened and decadent society, so much in need Of new stimuli

and life, Napoleon Bonaparte transfused the knowledge of the

West and new hope for the Middle East.

CHAPTER II
ARRIVAL OF THE FRENCH

The centuries which intervened between the capture of
Saint Louis of France during the Crusades in North Africa and
the invasion by Napoleon's trOOps were not entirely without
Franco-Arab contacts. Traffic, both commercial and diplomatic,
was commonplace between the EurOpean and Ottoman capitals.
Although European ambassadors were regarded by the Sultan as
inferior to Turks, France was Officially recognized as the
protector of Catholics inhabiting the Ottoman Empire. Also,
France gained a primary position in eastern markets which led
to the establishment of trading houses in leading Near East
centers. Especially in Egypt, France secured a virtual mono-
poly, with merchant establishments at Cairo and Alexandria
out-numbering the nearest rival, Britain, by fifty to two.1

The supremacy of France in religious and commercial
matters was confirmed by the Capitulations granted to France
by the Porte in 1536. These Capitulations or concessions,
guaranteed freedom Of worship, exempted French traders from
customs-duties, and granted certain judicial extraterritorial
privileges to French residents. These latter rights not only

removed foreign residents from jurisdiction of the religious

 

1George E. Kirk, A Short History Of the Middle East
(New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1959), p. 68.

34

 

35

courts (Shari'ah), but placed them in a separate category

 

under consular authority. Henceforth, the French were a
distinct and privileged group in Arab-Turkish affairs. That
such Capitulations were not extended to England until forty-
five years later is further evidence of the headstart which
France had in the Franco-British competition for dominance
in the Middle East.

Napoleon in Egypt

Despite the development of new trade routes to the East,
the British and the French did not lose their vision of ex-
panding overland routes through Egypt or Syria. As the English
position became more secure in India, shipments into the Persian
Gulf and the Red Sea increased. Such shipping posed a constant
threat to French businessmen in Egypt. In the presence Of
tension created by such rivalry, both England and France Openly
supported the Ottoman government. Having established highly
favorable relations with the Sublime Porte, they felt secure
in their dealings as long as the Middle East maintained even
token unity under the Porte's titular reign.

That Bonaparte dreamed Of occupying the Near East,
particularly Egypt, is little to be doubted. Whether he
actually invaded the country for personal or commercial reasons
or for the purpose Of wrenching the government from the hands
of the Mamelukes, as he said, is in doubt. It seems most
likely that the Egyptian target was, nevertheless, an indirect
strike at Great Britain and a temporal substitute for invasion

of England, for which the French Directorate would not grant

36
sufficient financial and political support.2

With the attack on Alexandria in July, 1798, a new and
significant period of direct European intervention in the Arab
world began. By their easy victory and subsequent occupation
of Egypt, "the French shattered the illusion of the unchallenge-
able superiority of the Islamic world to the infidel West."3
Not only had French military strength been demonstrated, but
with the instruments of war came an out—pouring of scientists,
technicians, archeologists, and savants. The scientific ex—
ploration to be conducted by this entourage provided the basis
of the famous Institut d'Egypte.4 That institute with its
library, laboratories, and instruments of scientific wonder
was destined to survive French military setbacks and to bring
inspiration to scholars Of the twentieth century.

Some measures adopted to support and sustain Napoleon's
campaign resulted in long-term benefits to the native pOpulation.
For example, the building Of hospitals and the enforcement of
health regulations for the protection Of army personnel rendered
a beneficial consequence for the civilians. The introduction
Of an Arabic printing press by means Of which Napoleon could
communicate his greetings to the people of Alexandria resulted
in the foundation of the Imprimerie Orientale et Francaise. It

still serves as a major publishing house Of the Middle East.

 

2P. G. Elgood, Bonaparte's Adventure in Egypt (London:

Oxford University Press, 1931), chap. III.

3Bernard Lewis, The Arabs in Histogy (New York: Harper
Brothers, 1960), pp. 166—67.

4Russell Galt, "European Versus American Education for
the Orient," School and Society, XXXVIII (August 12, 1933), 217.

37
As for other areas, Charles-Roux Observed that during the
occupation, Egypt was
delivered over to the technical studies and scientific
activities Of ordnance survey officers, civil engineers,
astronomers, and officers of the Engineers, collaborating
in work of inestimable value both for science and for the
country concerned. Together with medicine, surgery, and
engineering, geometry and astronomy made their re-entry
into Egypt in the wake of technicians stimulated by the
noble idea of bringing the benefits Of progress in these
sciences to one Of the countries in which they had first
flourished.5
Despite the Egyptians' lack of appreciation of Napoleon's
efforts and despite their distaste at being taxed to support
such incomprehensible activity, the occupation was to leave
the imprint of France on the banks of the Nile. As commander
of the army and as a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences
of France, Napoleon had assembled the most capable colleagues
for his expedition. Their classification of Egyptian architec-
ture, the delicate translation of the Koran into French verse,
and their written accounts provided material stimuli for later
researchers. Writing about that same period, Cachia says that
"it is possible to see in the manifold activities Of the French
in Egypt...the seeds Of all the major cultural ventures that
were to follow."6
There are numbers Of reasons why the relatively brief
occupation by French forces should have exerted such an influence

on Egyptian life. First Of all, the military was admired because

of its conquest by more modern, technical means. The superiority

 

5F. Charles-Roux, Bonaparte, Gouverneur d'Egypte (Paris:
Librarie Plon, 1936), p. 116.

6P. J. E. Cachia, "Modern Arabic Literature} The Islamic
Near East, ed. Douglas Grant (Toronto: University Of Toronto
Press, 1960), p. 284.

 

38
Of gunpowder over brandished swords was sufficiently established
in the hours-long conquest of Alexandria. Second, the exploration
and scientific activity had awakened a sense Of importance in
a docile people even if they did not grasp its immediate sig-
nificance. The enthusiasm Of the young general and his followers
for introducing industrial goods and techniques was successfully
copied by the Egyptians even though much Of their work did not
outlast the occupation. Third, the tolerance of Islam by
Bonaparte and his troops was to set a precedent which would
make possible the teaching of Egyptians by French teachers and
even by French clerics. The Muslim concept of European Christians
as armed missionaries intent on destruction and conversion was
reversed or at least re-examined. The troops had been instructed
to Offer the same respect and cordiality to followers Of
Muhammad as they did to Italian Christians or to pagans of
other lands. Regardless of the reasons, the soldiers who went
about the cities unarmed bought freely and paid generously for
Egyptian goods. That encouraged the local vendors to come into
contact with them. Although the French language first made its
way into families of middle class merchants, the relationship
between the army and native peasants seems not to have been
unpleasant. Fourth, in order to assuage its displeasure at
uncomfortable surroundings, the French Army re-created some
elements of their home environment in Cairo and other places.7
Through the introduction of shops and services, a French atmos-
phere was achieved in varying degrees and in uneven tempo

through the century and a half to follow.

 

7One Of the earliest tasks assigned to the Institut d'Egypte
was to develop a way of making leavened bread for the Frenchmen.

39

Two other events seem likely to have had importance.
One involves the fiscal policy which Napoleon instituted.
Instead Of employing Mameluke tax collectors who had Often been
chosen for their ruthless ability to extract disprOportionate
amounts Of money from peasants, workers, and landowners,
Napoleon appointed eight Egyptians to head the revenue service.
Through his advisors, he also changed the system of tax assess-
ment. "Though taxation remained very heavy it ceased to depend
merely on the collectors' requirements and began to be adjusted
tO the taxpayer's needs, the size of his property and the size
of his crops."8 These measures altered the relationship between
administration and law; and they helped to improve the image
of the European Christian and of the European businessman in
Egypt. Finally, the disbanding of Napoleon's forces made
military personnel and technicians available for service else-
where. Although the occupation Of Egypt lasted three years,
the final defeat of Napoleon and the dispersion of his army
coincided with the rise of new nationalist energy in Egypt.
subsequently, the Europeanizing process, begun by Bonaparte,
continued in Egypt with some of the same forces but with new
leadership.

Napoleon left Egypt the same year of the invasion, and
his troops were evacuated in 1801. Although many of the general's
innovations faded when the occupation was over, some seeds Of

French culture were nurtured and continued to grow. New ideas

 

8Jean and Simonne Lacouture, Egypt in Transition, trans.
Francis Scarfe (New York: Criterion Books, 1958), p. 47.

 

40
and ambitions had been aroused, and the succeeding Ottoman
governor, Muhammad Ali,
was convinced that the way to strengthen Egypt was to
emulate the western powers and to copy their military
institutions and administrative organization. He pre-
ferred to introduce new institutions, which were in
fact foreign to Egyptian culture, rather than to recon-
struct, improve or build upon existing institutions and
harness or channel the vital forces behind them. But
these new institutions could not work without a system
Of education other than the religious onS centered in
the old, famous, University Of Al-Azhar.
As admirers of the tools and weapons Of the West, particularly
of France, and as witnesses of Napoleon's ascendance, Muhammad
Ali and his Officers looked westward for a model on which to
pattern modern Egypt. England, Germany, and especially France

were prepared to give assistance.
From French Occupation to British Occupation

Muhammad Ali, Often regarded as the George Washington
of modern Egypt, was a Turkish—speaking Ottoman. Muslim though
not Arab, his military ambitions placed him in a favorable
position with both the English government and with the Sultan
of Turkey. His relatively long reign over Egypt was sprinkled
with military campaigns and European dealings. With an Officer
class trained by Europeans, he conquered Syria, Arabia, and
the Sudan. The subsequent loss Of these territories ushered
in a more centralized Ottoman government and the successive
penetration Of the Middle East by European powers.

The personal history of Muhammad Ali is virtually the

history Of Egypt during the first half Of the nineteenth century.

 

9Sadek H. Samaan, Value Reconstruction and Egyptian
Education (New York: Columbia University, 1955). PP. 5-6.

 

41
This scheming Albanian who claimed to know more tricks than
Macchiavelli employed his skill in destroying the Mamelukes
and having himself recognized by the Porte as ruler Of Egypt.
Being illiterate, Ali brought others to translate and to read
books to him about Napoleon and the art of government. He
admired the methodical and centralized administration which
the French had set up, and he endeavored to emulate the ad-
ministrative system as well as the well-trained army and navy.
Compared to the confusion which was so prevalent between the
leaving of the French troops and the seating Of Muhammad Ali,
Napoleon's administration must have been viewed with favor
even by those who would have bitterly denounced it in 1800.
Some of the Sheikhs at Al-Azhar who had been critics of the
French general became admirers of his efficient Operation Of
government after he had departed. Chief among these was the
famous Egyptian historian al-Jabarti.

The Reign Of Muhammad Ali.--Although to intellectuals,

 

France was the norm Of civilization, to Muhammad Ali she
represented the ideal of military skill and organization.

With his sights clearly set on the gaining Of political power,
to be achieved through increased military strength, Muhammad
Ali set out to create institutions for the preparation of
military Officers and for the training of ancillary personnel.
He was aware that the Old system Of religious schools (the
kuttabs and mosque colleges) would not help him to accomplish
his aims. Faced, then, with the alternatives of interpolating

the necessary, new subject matter into the Old curriculum or

42
of setting up an entirely new system, he chose the latter.
The ancient system Of religious education was left intact.
At that point, the "European philosophy with its two-ladder
school system, giving a minimum education to the masses and
a maximum education to the classes"10 was firmly implanted
on Egyptian soil.

Impatient, and pressed by the immediate need for
specialists, Muhammad Ali structured his new system from the
top down. He created higher institutions first, and he staffed
them with Europeans. Included at that time were the School Of
Medicine and the SChool Of Pharmaceutics as well as all manner
of military and technical establishments. Radwan reports that
each Of the higher schools was patterned and named after a
counterpart in Paris.11 The Cavalry School, for example, was
a copy Of the Saumur School in Paris; the School Of Engineering
was like the Ecole Polytechnique with its three departments:
the Mining Department, the Central Department, and the Public
Works Department.

In 1813, the first Of eleven missions to be sent to
EurOpe by Muhammad Ali began military studies, chiefly in
France. Hitti has noted that there were 311 students included
in these missions Of Muhammad Ali at an expense to the state

of 273,360 Egyptian pounds.12

 

10Galt,‘9_p. cit., p. 218.

11Abu Al-Futouh Ahmad Radwan, Old and New Forces in
Egyptian Education (New YOrk: Columbia University, 1951),
pp- 87—88 0

12Philip K. Hitti, History Of the Arabs (London:
Macmillan CO., 1958), p. 724.

43
Muhammad Ali's interest in military education apparently
spread to other aspects Of education. He employed the services
of many French translators, but the progress was too slow for
his purposes. Ahmed relates an incident where Muhammad Ali,
after being told that it would take three months to translate
a geography book, slashed the book into three parts with his

13 This frustration

sword and gave it to three translators.
eventually led to the establishment of formal translation
bureaus and of schools for the training Of translators.

A separate school for Muhammad Ali's delegations was
established in Paris in 1826. The mission to France that year
comprised forty-four students whose areas Of specialization
encompassed civil and military administration, science, medi-

14 The students in that

cine, and manufacturing techniques.
mission, like later ones to Paris, were housed in a special
building: and the students lived under strict discipline and
a code Of regulations. Since it was not Muhammad Ali's
intention that these students should see too much of French
life, they lived together as a colony. The duration Of their
studies varied from two to twelve years. Students attending
the Egyptian Military School in Paris were "placed under the
supreme directorship Of the French Minister of War and all

teachers were Frenchmen."15

 

13J. M. Ahmed, The Intellectual Origins Of Egyptian
Nationalism (London: Oxford University Press, 1960), p. 10.

 

14Omar Tusun, Educational Missions during the Reign of
Muhammad Ali (Alexandria: Oriental Press, 1934), pp. 12-54.

15J. Heyworth-Dunne, An Introduction to the History Of
Educatiop in Modern Egypt (London: Luzac CO., 1938), p. 243.

 

44

The leader of the 1826 mission was a student from
Al-Azhar named Rifa'ah Rafi al-Tahtawi. Tahtawi had been a
pupil Of the Sheikh Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Attar, a rector of
Al-Azhar. The Sheikh Hasan had been an Observer of the
Napoleonic occupation, and he had frequented the Institut
d'Egypte where he was impressed by the French scientific
work. Aside from the significant impression which he made on
his pupil, it was the Sheikh Hasan who got Tahtawi appointed
as the imam Of the delegation to Paris.16 Although not there
as a student, Tahtawi spent five years in Paris reading a great
variety of books, concentrating on Voltaire, Rousseau, and
Montesquieu. "The thought Of the French Enlightenment left a
permanent mark on him, and through him on the Egyptian mind."l7
Writing in Paris at the time of the French occupation of Algiers,
Tahtawi apparently saw no political threat from Europe. Rather,
he saw France as a symbol Of "science and material progress.“18
Although he speculated and wrote on such matters as the natural
basis for a state and the nature of monarchies and republics,
his life was spent chiefly in matters relating to education.
On his return to Egypt, he worked as a translator of European
works, he taught French at the School Of Medicine, and he edited
the Official journal Informations Egyptiennes.19 Later, he
became head Of the new school Of Languages, started in 1835 for
the purpose Of preparing students "for the professional schools

and to train Officials and translators."20

 

16Albert Hourani, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age,
1798-1939 (London: Oxford University Press, 1962), p. 69.

17Ibid. 18Ibid., p. 81.
19Ahmed, QB. cit., p. 13. 20Hourani, pp, cit., p. 71.

45

In 1837, education was removed from the jurisdiction of
the Department Of‘War, and a Department of Education was created.
Tahtawi served on the commission which established the system
of schools, and he later served as an inspector and examiner
in them. The department, called the Conseil Superieur de
l'Instruction Publique, was headed by a Frenchman, Sulaiman
Pasha. He was a close associate of Muhammad Ali and a convert
to Islam. Considering the esteem in which the French schools
were held, it is not surprising that the new system for Egypt
was characterized by centralization, inspection,and examina-
tions.21 3

Three levels of instruction were to be incorporated into
the system Of schools after 1837. (See figure 3.) Primary
schools, preparatory schools, and special schools were proposed.
The first two prepared pupils for the possible next stage. The
last was a consolidation and reorganization of the higher insti-
tutes for cavalry, artillery, infantry, medicine, language,
and veterinary training.

The plan called for forty-five primary units to be dis-
tributed among the provinces with another one at Alexandria and
four in the city of Cairo. Uniformity of discipline, teaching,
and administration was the goal for the primary schools. It was

a graded system for three years. Pupils could remain for a

 

21Since Muhammad Ali selected and placed the students,
there was prObably justification for this comment Of Poujoulat
at the time: Muhammad Ali has established public instruction
for what? In order to have Officers, administrators, and doctors,
and not for the enlightenment of the Egyptian population by
putting the benefits of education in the place of plentiful
ignorance. One could say that there is nothing less public in

Egypt than that instruction which is called public. (Heyworth—
Dunne, Op. c1t., p. 229, passage translated by the writer).

 

46

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Schools
Special (higher)
. Schools
Ca1ro
7
Alexandria Cairo Preparatory
l 1 Schools
.m 0
: Provinces w,
’0 45 P‘Cx .
go 0 Primary
5 Schools
e:
'T
Pupil
Places
Special (higher)
Schools Cairo
1,200
m
-~
H
Preparatory '38 Cairo
Schools gin 1 ’ 500
o
"I
$11.
0
. L" Provinces 8
Pr imary 'UO 4 ' 500 003‘”
Schools 50 o“
N O
x
w
H
q'

 

 

Fig. 3.--Number of schools and places proposed by
the Department of Education under Muhammad Ali,

1837

 

 

‘u#

47

a fourth year where it was necessary and if it was recommended
by the inspector. Promotion was determined by examination.

School inspection was to be carried out on a quarterly
basis. The inspector was responsible to the central authority.
TO that body, reports were made concerning pupil progress,
teacher zeal, and school administration. Results Of examina-
tions, given by the teachers themselves, identified pupils who
were to be drafted for admission to the preparatory schools.

There were two preparatory schools, one each in Alexandria
and Cairo. Together, they accommodated 2,000 pupils. The
preparatory course was of four year's duration, and as in the
earlier segment, a student could remain for an additional year
with the approval of his teachers. Subjects to be included
at the preparatory level were: Arabic, Turkish, Persian,
arithmetic, algebra, geometry, history, geography, calligraphy,
and drawing.

It was in the special School of Languages that French
was introduced as a subject along the ladder. The main function
of the school was the training of translators who could convert
French textbooks for use in Arabic or Turkish. Since the trans-
lated works were designed to serve as textbooks in the schools
and training colleges, it is significant that "works on military
and naval subjects, as well as on mathematics and mechanics,
are almost all in Turkish."22 This would indicate the minority
position of Egyptians in training at that time.

In 1841, Muhammad Ali Officially attached a Bureau Of

Translation to the school Of Languages, even though his military

 

22Lewis,9_p_. cit., p. 172.

 

48
aspirations were being extinguished. For in the same year,
he was forced, under Anglo-Turkish pressure, to forfeit Syria
which he had ruled for ten years through his favorite son and
deputy, Ibrahim. In exchange, the Sublime Porte invested him
with the government of the Sudan and declared the Pashalik of
Egypt to be hereditary in Muhammad Ali's family. (See figure 4.)
In difficult conditions militarily and financially, Muhammad

Ali was obliged to reduce his army and the budget for education.

 

 

 

 

l. Muhammad Ali (1805-48)
l I <+
2. Ibrahim Tusun 4. Sa'id
(1848) (1854-63)
3. Abbas I
(1848-54)
5. Isma'il
(1863—79; khedive, 1866)
l
“I. I . l
6. Ta flq 8. Husayn Kamll 9. Fu'ad
(1879—92) (1914-17; (1917—36:
I sultan, 1917) king, 1922)
7. Abbas II Hilmi 10. FaLuq
(1892-1914) (1936-52)
Fig. 4.--Egyptian royal family of Muhammad Ali

 

 

 

Writing about that time, schoelcher declared that since the

schools were only instruments for war, when the need for an

army was dissipated, Muhammad Ali no longer wanted sOhOOls.23
A plan to abolish all of the primary, preparatory, and

special schools was advanced, probably by some of the conserva-

tive Ulema. The plan met with strong Opposition from Sulaiman

 

23V. Schoelcher, L'Egypte en 1845 (Paris: 1846), p. 63,
(passage translated by the writer).

49
Pasha who still enjoyed Ali's favor. Ibrahim suggested the
dismissal of expensive Europeans and the employment of more
Turks and Egyptians. Actually, both schools and staff suffered
cutbacks. The number of pupils in the higher schools was
sharply curtailed, while primary schools were almost eliminated.24
Near the end of 1841, only three primary schools remained in
operation.

The affairs of Egypt are always in the same state Of
uncertainty. Today, the governmental catchword is economy
and all energy is directed toward the elimination of
European employees. Also in the name of economy, the
number of pupils in school has just been reduced so as to
include only a very few. In the SChOOl of Medicine, for
example, where there used to be 300 students, the number
is now fixed at only 130. All other institutions have
been submitted to similar cuts.

In the writer's opinion, the role of Muhammad Ali as

founder and patron of the Bureau of Translation at such a

critical period is indicative of his real intention. His pact
with the Porte had precluded further military adventures for
which he is supposed to have wanted education. He must have
known that in the works of Europe lay the basis of a changing

and progressive future. Tahtawi was named head of the bureau,

and it is there that he is considered to have made his most
important contribution. Not only did he do personal transla-
tions, but he recommended and supervised the translation Of

some 2,000 books and pamphlets on a variety of subjects.26

Like his Francophile mentor, al-Attar, Tahtawi "began with a

strong belief in the power of language and a critical trust

 

24For details of the debate on the closing of schools,

see Artin, Lettres du Dr. Perron a M. Jules Mohl (Cairo: 1911),
pp. 68-690

2?;pig. (passage translated by the writer).

26Ahmed,'<_)p. cit., p. 10.

50

in European arts and sciences...Before him European learning
was practically unknown to Egyptians and it may therefore be
said that the intellectual movement in Egypt began with his
studentship in Paris and the book he wrote then."27 Muhammad
Ali had been responsible for sending him to France; he was
equally responsible for his later appointments in Egypt; and
he may be assigned credit for the outcome of Tahtawi's work.
Further evidence of Ali's devotion to western education is
that the missions to Europe continued after the termination
of his military career. In fact, While only 108 students had
been Officially sent abroad between 1828 and 1836, the years
Of Ali's build-up of forces, 135 students were sent to Europe
in 1847. Eighty-five Of the latter group went to France.28
This was six years after he had any need for training armies.

The next year, Muhammad Ali died. By that time, it
could be summarized that during his reign he had helped in the
ousting Of Napoleon; he had expelled or exterminated the
Mamelukes; he had worked assiduously for the development and
enlargement of his country; he had introduced 10,000 to 12,000
young Egyptian residents to European education and culture;

29 Aside from'his

and he had left his country free Of debt.
establishing the first military Officer training school, Ali

set up a sort of education for military purposes.30 Often,

he disturbed the Old mosque system. Although he did not provide

the skills, atmosphere, or the means to personal enterprise,

he appears to have discovered the thrill Of learning. Ambitious

 

27Ibid., p_ 11. 28Heyworth-Dunne, gp. cit., p. 243.

29Kirk, pp, cit., p. 103.
30The first recruitment of Egyptians began in 1823.

51
for territory and power, searching for new techniques and
knowledge, villainous toward his enemies, but generous to
those WhO‘WiShed to serve---such were the qualities Of the
Albanian who set Egypt on a new course.

Some Of the programs instituted by Muhammad Ali were
to have far—reaching implications for Egyptian national develop-
ment. First among these was the creation of an Egyptian
intelligentsia. These scholars and writers of the next gen-
erations were active politically as well as academically. They
agitated for reform, they acted as critics of successive regimes,
and they challenged Old institutions. Moreover, they began to
think in terms of an Egyptian nation, a concept which was foreign
to the Arab world.

Second, the import of western ideas brought about a
tendency toward greater secularization Of Egyptian life. The
schools did not escape that secularization. For centuries,
the pre-eminence Of the Azhar had not been seriously challenged.
As the stronghold Of Muslim absolutism, it performed its social
and religious function in a manner that could not have been
duplicated by another agency. But after 850 years, it was
dealt its first blow by a follower Of the Muslim faith. For
with the addition Of a second school system, traditional educa-
tion became increasingly vulnerable. Formerly supreme, it was
subjected to comparison with the newer system which stood along-
side it. The educated class, Often having shared the benefits
of both systems, sensed the commitment to the past and present
of the Old and the new, respectively. The teachings Of the

developed and envied West not only excluded the religious

52

training, but they were in conflict with it. Since the Old
religious institution, intact and unreconstructed after hundreds
of years, continued to defend the traditional way of life which
had proved so disastrous in 1798, the students who were schooled
along European lines displayed increasing antagonism toward it.

Third, the ability to speak a foreign language, especially
French or English, became a mark of education and a distinguish-
able social achievement. Parallel tO the acquisition Of a
foreign tongue was the training abroad. Since relatively few
persons were chosen, the missions assumed a decidedly exclusive
nature. Perhaps more important is the recognition Of these
men as Ali's personal representatives, whether they were Turkish,
Armenian, or Egyptian. It was from these missions that government
Officials were selected; it was the membership Of these missions
that created a new stratum of society, the "cultured" class.
It was these peOple who were granted positions that yielded
profit and reward in land, money or titles. Quite reasonably,
there grew the notion that training and specialization abroad
were pre—requisite to success and privilege.

Finally, as a result Of Muhammad Ali's generosity,
the Catholic community gained government sanction. To the
large number Of Europeans who had established business Operations
in the seaport Of Alexandria, Ali made a gift Of land. On it,
Franciscan monks built a convent whose chapel became the famous
Church of Saint-Catherine. It eventually became the parish
church of all Latin Catholics Of Alexandria. As such, it was
the focal point Of religious and cultural training for the

Catholic flock; and it was a base from which French cultural

53
influence could be disseminated. This overture, coupled with
the long-standing Capitulations which granted special privileges
to Europeans provided a basis for the establishment Of foreign
schools for Egyptians as well as for the European Catholics.
Thus began a trend the impact of which would arouse both support
and ill-feelings for a century.

Ali's Successors.—-Muhammad Ali's death (in 1848) had
been preceded by the death of his appointed successor, Ibrahim.
Consequently, the title passed to his grandson, Abbas. In his
six years as governor, Abbas looked with disfavor at the presence
Of Europeans in Egyptian institutions; but even more, he regarded
the internal movement for reforms as highly dangerous. He sent
the most vocal of the EurOpean—trained reformers to posts in
other parts of the empire. Among "the exiles" was Tahtawi who
was sent to the Sudan. Paradoxically enough, Abbas' antagonism

toward EurOpean ideas was expressed in an atmosphere which was
becoming increasingly EurOpean. His power was neither great
enough nor Of sufficient duration to reverse the European trend.
Both France and Britain were extending their political and
commercial interests in the Middle East, the most important
events among them being the building Of railroads between Cairo
and Alexandria and between Cairo and Suez.

Sa'id, governor from 1854 to 1863, held ideas more
similar to those Of his father, Muhammad Ali; and the Europeans
continued to flow into Egypt. The Suez Canal was begun in 1859,
encouraging even further immigration. Even though the labor for

the building of the canal was supplied by the Egyptian Army,

.54

the cost was otherwise divided among Egypt, Britain, and France.
All three expected to increase their revenue as a result Of it.

With the French and British commercial interests came
their schools. The Catholic Church, having already been estab-
lished in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East, expanded its
educational services to accommodate the children of European
businessmen. Although a number Of countries exercised their
rights under the Capitulations which guaranteed freedom of
religion and other privileges based on nationality, France had
some advantage. She continued to enjoy the ascribed role of
protectress of the spiritual and cultural welfare of the Catholic
community; and she had what was called the French civilizing
mission (1a mission civilisatrice). Also, the prior contacts
between France and the Muhammad Ali regime, with their reciprocal
religious tolerance, added momentum to the French cause. DeSpite
the adverse views of Abbas, the imprint of France was being made
and could be demonstrated by the proportion Of the educated class
who knew the French language. "Such seed ripens into a harvest
of French prestige," lamented Pierre Crabites. "It brings
Egypt into the spiritual empire Of France. It makes of the
Levant one vast Gallic cultural dominion."31

Among the Egyptian educated class, there were several
main streams of thought. One group favored the adoption of
European ways which was already being expressed in modes of
dress and furnishing. At the other extreme was a group which

favored a return to Islamic institutions Of previous centuries

¥

31Pierre Crabites, "The Cultural Dominions of France,"
The Nineteenth Century, CIV (August, 1928), 180.

55
and maintenance of the supremacy of Islam. Between the two
positions was a group that was more important, in terms of
their long-range effect. These men admired the European arts
and sciences, and many of them had adopted European philosophical
and scientific approaches to problems. Their concern was for
the development Of their own country with the adaptation of
whatever would be useful from Europe. Their prOblem, then,
was one of reconciling European modernism with Egyptian tradi-
tionalism. Since the students who were sent to Europe had
invariably been trained at Al-Azhar first, most of them were
quite familiar with both patterns of thought and mode of life.
Thoroughly versed in the works of Bentham and Mill as well as
in those Of Voltaire and Rousseau, they debated the wisdom Of
secularism within a religious state, and they repeatedly ques-
tioned the function of a static system of religious education
in the making of a modern state.

Isma'il.--Of all the Egyptian governors of the nineteenth
century, Isma'il was probably the most extravagant. He was also
the most generous in his acceptance Of Europeans and their ideas.
Having also been educated in Paris, Isma'il gave preferential
treatment to Tahtawi, who had been allowed to return to Cairo
under Sa'id Pasha as head Of a school. Tahtawi echoed the
reformers' sentiments for a revised and expanded educational
system. Disturbed by domestic conditions which they attributed
to unfavorable political structure, the reformers demanded the
establishment Of democratic institutions. They saw education
as a source Of aid in producing a nation which could get and use

such institutions. Tahtawi was appointed by Isma'il to a

56
commission to devise a new educational system. The work of the
commission led to the new Code of 1868. The new Code called
for the addition of modern primary schools, the improvement of
the Old Koran-type schools (kuttabs), and the combination of
the two sets of schools into a unified system. Furthermore,
the Code demanded the participation of citizens in the financing
of this new program of national education.

At the same time that the government schools were being
re-examined, two other notable developments were taking place.
For one, the Azhar itself was being subjected to intermittent
reforms, attributed to Isma'il, in what Adams called his "zeal
for Europeanizing Egypt."32 New subjects were being added to
the curriculum and subsequently deleted, depending on the rector
at the time. A schedule Of examinations and a board of examiners
was established, however: and logic and philosophy were being
taught at Al-Azhar in 1866 when Muhammad Abduh entered the
University.33 .The other development occurred outside of Egypt
but was of importance to it. The French government invited the
Sultan to visit Paris where a new system Of secular, public
education was recommended to him. As a result,

there was opened in 1868 under the joint direction of

the Turkish Ministry Of Foreign Affairs and the French
Ambassador the Lycée Of Galata-Serai, a great secondary
school Open to Ottoman subjects of every race and creed,
where more than six hundred.boys were taught by Europeans
in the French language---a symbol of the action Of France,

exerting herself to teach the peoples of the Orient in34
her own language the elements of Western civilization.

 

32Charles Clarence Adams, Islam and Modernism in Egypt
(London: Oxford University Press, 1933), p. 30.

33Infra, pp. 60-61. 34Kirk, pp. cit., p. 86.

57

The French scheme for introducing more school systems
was shattered by the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Enrollment
in the European schools of Egypt continued to increase, however,
and the increase was most noticeable among Muslims and others
of the indigenous population. Although many schools taught
Arabic, the French language held a position of choice in both
the Egyptian and European schools. English acquired a degree
of prominence through the introduction of both British and
American schools; but the French had greater numbers of students.
At least one of the reasons for this was that the French schools
were established in large population centers while the English
sOhOOls were scattered about the countryside or in small towns.35

The government of the Khedive Isma'il was in a bitter
crisis. His lavish building and industrialization programs
had brought the country to the point of bankruptcy. Not only
had he accumulated vast debts in Britain and France, but the
decline Of demand and price for Egyptian cotton after the end
Of the American Civil War reduced revenues for the Egyptian
treasury. Consequently, the new educational program never
really got started.

Tahtawi continued his work for the Ministry Of Education
as editor Of a periodical to which he contributed a number Of
original articles; but his main work consisted of the trans-
lation Of French legal codes into Arabic by way of preparation

for the Mixed Courts, established in 1873.

 

351t appears that while the French concentrated on
teaching their own language as perfectly as possible, the
American schools were more inclined to encourage the use Of
Arabic. Consequently, the American schools are considered to
have made a valuable contribution to the revival Of Arabic
literature although their academic reputation was inferior to
that Of the French, at least from the European point Of view.

58

The Mixed Courts prObably came to be introduced as the
European governments became more deeply involved in Egyptian
affairs and as the European population in Egypt increased.
Joesten reports that "whereas in 1850 there had been only 6,000
Europeans resident in Egypt, by 1875 there were over 100,000."36
Litigation involving these foreigners and the government Of
Egypt, including the estates of the Khedive, came under the
jurisdiction of the Mixed Courts. They were presided over
by both Egyptian and European judges. "In other words, foreign
diplomatic pressure could henceforth be applied directly on the
Egyptian Government through legally established channels."37
This system apparently resulted in further indebtedness on the
part Of Isma'il. In 1875, at a time when Isma'il had boasted
that Egypt was part of Europe instead of Africa,38 he was forced
to sell his 44 per cent share of the capital in the Suez Canal
Company to Britain.

The following year, Britain and France foreclosed, in a
sense, on their Egyptian mortgages by establishing a financial
control system in Egypt. The controllers representing the two
countries were responsible for supervising all state expenditures,
the collection Of revenue, and they, in fact, directed the
country's economic and political activities. Isma'il appointed
a new Government with both French and British cabinet ministers.

The measures enforced by the Anglo—French dual control

resulted in financial hardship for the army. This caused

 

36Joachim Joesten, Nasser: The Rise to Power (London:
Odham Press, 1960), p. 22.

37Ibid., p. 23.

8Jacques Baulin, The Arab Role in Africa (London: Cox
and Wyman, 1962), p. 42.

59
an uprising in 1878 which invited Franco-British intervention.
The two powers secured the resignation of Isma'il's government
with the Sultan's approval. The Khedive was replaced by his
son, Tawfiq, who was more acceptable to the dual control but
whose weakness encouraged bickering and aggression among the
nationalist forces. Further uprisings led the French and

39

British to the point of armed attack. Before any action was

taken, the French Parliament was dissolved and the British
came, alone,to occupy Egypt.40
The British Tenure in Egypt

Prior to the British occupation, but during the events
leading up to it, a new generation of intellectuals with nation—
alist reforms in mind had been operative. Their nationalist ideas
grew stronger, and the national movement accelerated after the oc-
cupation Of Egypt. Some Of the scholars were kept under close
surveillance, while others went into exile. Both groups continued
their work. One reformer was Jamal al-Din al-Afghani. A man of

uncertain background,41 he first came to Egypt in 1871. Later, he

headed the group called the Azhar Circle. Most impressed.by

 

39The revolt was led by Colonel Ahmad Arabi who had.been
educated at Al-Azhar under Muhammad Abduh's tuition. He and
his striving for the formation Of a republic were most influenced
by biographical studies of Napoleon (Ahmed,_gp..git., p. 25).
40Thomas F. Power, Jules Ferry and the Renaissance Of
French Imperialism (New York: Kings Crown Press, 1944) p. 131.
It is also possible that the French could not have supported the
attack on Egypt since they had privately encouraged the uprising
with the hope that it would result in the expulsion of the British
from Egyptian territory.

41Whether Afghani was from Persia or Afghanistan was sig—
nificant only to those who opposed his teachings. The popularity
Of this man (educated in India but very much "at home" in Paris,
Istanbul, or Cairo) and the impact Of his work on the Muslim
community seems important to the writer in that it points up the
disregard for "national" boundaries when Islamic religion or
society were at stake.

60

Guizot's History of Civilization, he concerned himself with the

 

means to social and individual development as expressed by Guizot.
He attributed the weakness of the Muslim countries to ignorance.
In his view, Muslim unity was the beginning of all improvements.
This sense of unity (pan-Islamism), with its suggestion that
religion could contribute to the formation of a political state,
was his one major point Of difference with the French. That
difference caused heated debate with Ernest Renan during Afghani's
residence in Paris. Afghani did not accept the absolute necessity
of a secular, rational state; but he felt that"Islam needed a

42 in order to give religion its proper role in Islamic

Luther"
life. Afghani gave
untiring efforts and ceaseless agitation . . . [to] the
accomplishment Of the unification of all Muslim peoples
under one Islamic government, over which the one Supreme
Caliph should bear undisputed rule, as in the glorious
days of Islam before its power had been dissipated in
endless dissensions and divisions, and the Muslim lands
had lapsed into ignorance and hzlplessness, to become
the prey of Western aggression.
Not only did Afghani try to imbue his pupils with these ideas,
but he also taught them how to write articles and to make
public speeches on social and political subjects.
One of the most avid followers of Afghani was Muhammad
Abduh. He, too, was inspired by European political thoughts,
but his application Of them was along traditional lines similar
to those of Afghani. Aside from teaching at the Azhar, he was
appointed to the School Of Languages where he taught Arabic

'language and literature. Having been a witness to reforms and

the abolition of reforms at Al-Azhar, he was a frequent critic

 

42Hourani,‘9_p. cit., p. 122.

43Adams,p_p. cit., p. 13.

61

of Egyptian education. As head of the Publications Office of
the Ministry of Interior (1880), he edited the Official Gazette
through which he tried to guide public Opinion. His essays on
education led to his appointment to the Superior Council on Educa-
tion which was charged with the planning of educational reforms.
These efforts, however, were thwarted by the British occupation.

It was chiefly through writings that Muhammad Abduh
gained the reputation of chief member of the Azhar Circle. His
position, as expressed in his writings, is clearly stated by
Adams as follows:

We must study the affairs of neighboring religions and
states to learn the reason for their advancement. And
when we have learned it, we must hasten towards it, that
'we may overtake what is past and prepare for what is
coming. We see no reason for their progress to wealth and
power except the advancement of education and the sciences
among them. Our first duty, then, is to endeavour with

all our Eight and main to spread these sciences in our
country.

Although he expressed pride in the nineteenth century translation
of scientific works into Arabic, he lamented the decline Of
Arabic as the great language of science that it had been in

the eleventh century. Moreover, he was aware Of the lack of
Arabic works in political science, but he, like Afghani, felt
Guizot's History Of Civilization would fill the void. From

that work, and from his studies, Abduh concluded that European
civilization "is the result Of preparatory measures wisely

taken with a view to producing these results. Every one

should study these measures in order to make use of them in

raising up his own country."45

 

44lhiém: P. 39. 45Ibid., pp. 39—40.

62

In exile in Paris around 1884, Abduh and Afghani started
a nationalist movement Of undetermined strength.46 They pub-
lished a journal fostering the ideas of pan-Islamism which stimu-
lated much debate throughout the Middle East. Intellectuals
in Cairo, some of them Lebanese, freely vented their political
views. Those taking a more conservative tone referred to the
champions of the cause of nationalism as "sailing in French
waters."4.7 The voice of nationalism was strong in any case.
A contemporary of Afghani, Adib Ishaq, came to Egypt after being
educated in French schools of Syria. He translated classical
French plays into Arabic, and he founded a newspaper in which

he aimed at diffusing scientific knowledge of the west and in

which he wrote essays about la patrie. Abd al-Salam al-

 

Muwailihi wrote responses to government speeches echoing such
terms as "liberty", "justice", and "equality" Of rights.
Qasim.Amin pressed for emancipation of women and for equal
educational opportunity for both boys and girls at the primary
level. Marsafi published a book in which he stressed the need
for general education for all citizens.

Among the colleagues of Afghani and Abduh were the brothers
Ahmad Fathi and Saad Zaghlul. After typical Azhar schooling, both
men studied law. The former went to France and England as part
of an educational mission, while Saad learned French in Egypt and
studied law at the French School Of Law in Cairo. Both Of them
later worked for the Ministry Of Justice although the major in-

fluence Of Fathi Zaghlul was through his Arabic translations Of

 

46A'branch of the movement was known to exist in Tunis,

but the movement and its followers were not otherwise identified
with any certainty.

47Ahmed, op. cit., p. 31.

 

__ .. . —L L_-— __.-(.._—--_
—_

63

English and French works. He translated only those things which
he thought "were capable Of application to conditions in Egypt
or were needed as an incentive to reform: and an introduction
to each translation pointed the application."48

Saad Zaghlul is best known, Of course, for his work in
uniting the intellectuals and peasants under the‘Wafd Party
which aimed for the expulsion of the British. Throughout the
British occupation, all military forces were under direct and
rigid British control while political leadership was in the hands
Of landowners and rising professional groups educated abroad.49
Consequently, it is not incongruous that Saad Zaghlul was ap-
pointed Minister Of Education by Lord Cromer in 1906.50 While
in the ministry, Saad tried to give Arabic a more commanding
role in the curriculum Of the schools. Britain's Lord Cromer,
however, duplicated the English practice Of training a class,
suitable for government service, which rendered Arabic impractical.

Antagonism toward British occupation was, nevertheless,
expressed linguistically. The French language continued to be
dominant. Marvin indicated that "upon leaving school . . .
[pupils] find themselves among a population in which, next to
Arabic, French is unquestionably the predominant language."51
He asserted further that although the time devoted to the teaching

Of English was second only to the time for teaching Arabic,

 

48Adams,‘gp. cit., p. 213.

49F. J. Vatikiotis, The Egyptian Army in Politics
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1961), pp. 20-25.

5OSaad Zaghlul was also married to the Egyptian Prime
Minister's daughter at that time.

51F. S. Marvin, "Education in Egypt," Contempgrary Review,
CXXXIX (1931), 462.

64

"the townsman or 'effendi' speaks French or English, and in spite
of the schools rather French than English."52

Another project Of Saad Zaghlul was the formation Of a
committee to consider the establishment of an Egyptian university.
This resulted in the opening Of the School of Arts in 1908.
"Foreign visiting professors were invited to teach, and Egyptian
students were sent abroad to prepare for teaching at the new

53 It remained a private institution until after

University."
nominal independence. It is noteworthy that the manner of
staffing the school and the means Of preparing teachers was
remarkably similar to the practices of a century earlier.

The existence of private institutions was even more evident
in the lower schools. In the school year 1913—1914, there were
302 foreign kindergarten and primary schools and 615 private
Egyptian schools, compared to 94 public schools in that category.
Of the secondary schools in the same year, six were public,
five were private Egyptian schools, and ten were foreign schools.
The foreign schools had a greater enrollment than all the public
schools permitted by the British.54 A similar imbalance of foreign
and Egyptian schools prevailed until the adoption Of the Egyptian
Constitution in 1923, at which time, education came under
Egyptian control. Observing the termination of the British
occupation, Crabites commented that "Egyptian independence is
the child Of French culture, not begotten by Quai d'Orsay

intrigue, but born Of French scholarship."55

 

521bid., p. 457.

.53Roderic D. Matthews and Matta Akrawi, Education in Arab
Countrles Of the Near East (Washington: American Council on

Education, 1949), p. 71.
54

 

55

Ibid. p. 34, Crabites, pp, cit., p. 182.

I

65
Although it is improbable that one could prove that
statement, the impression finds credence in an assessment Of
the period by a professor and Dean Emeritus of the American
University at Cairo.

By catering to the top stratum of society and attracting
the children Of the aristocratic classes, foreign schools
exerted great influence on Egyptian education. In the
meantime their graduates became the nucleus Of a type of
cultural aristocracy and formed a group of cultural elite
who later became highly powerful in the conduct Of the
general affairs of the country. Thus, foreign schools
with their unique curricula, their organizational pattern,
and with no check on their work by the State, found ample
Opportunity to make themselves an instrument of propaganda
for their respective countries, and faced no Obstacle
whatever in directing the youth the way they desired.56

 

 

SCHOOLS TEACHERS PUPILS
American 78 408 6,914
Italian 91 558 9,809
British 74 275 4,322
French 279 1,657 32,812
Greek 88 432 11,396

Fig. 5.--Teachers and students
in foreign schools, 1927-1928

 

 

While statistics are not available for the year of indepen-
dence, figure 5 gives some indication Of the advantage held by
the French schools over other foreign schools five years later.57
Working with Saad Zaghlul in the drafting of the 1923
constitution was another friend of Muhammad Abduh, Ahmad Lutfi

al-Sayyid. He, too, had been greatly influenced by French

 

56Amir Boktor, The Development and Expansion Of Education
in the United Arab Republic (Cairo: American University in Cairo
Press, 1963), p. 74.

57Ibid., p. 78.

66

and English writings though his reading was mostly in French.58
He had edited a journal in favor of the nationalist movement
for which he received, in fact, the support of the Khedive
and the French government. Like Abduh, he was concerned with
reform Of national character, the building of self—respect
among the peasants, and the restoration of the Arabic language
to its former important position. Education was to be one of
the vehicles of progress.

The Egyptians were serious and devoted in their efforts
to establish a national system Of education. This is shown in
the vastly increased amounts of money apportioned from the
national budget for school purposes in the revision and the
modernization of both elementary and higher schools.

The system which was intrOduced in 1925 was, essentially,
a two-ladder system. One ladder was composed of tuition-supported
primary and secondary schools leading to the institutions of
higher learning. The other ladder consisted of a terminal
program of compulsory, free, elementary education. The latter
was a five-year course made up of half-day sessions, one for
boys and one for girls. There were economic advantages to the
half-day school, but it was also believed that parents would give
more enthusiastic support to the schools if their children were
available for a half-day's work at home or in the field.
Dissatisfaction with this plan eventually resulted in replacement

of the sessions with full-time schools.

 

S8Ahmed, pp. cit., p. 90.

67

Accompanying the elementary plan were evening adult
courses. These concentrated on memorization of the Koran, much
as did the kuttabs which continued to exist but with a broadened
curriculum.

Also in 1925, the Egyptian University was legally trans—
formed into a state university. Incorporated in the original
arts college was the School of Law, founded by Isma'il in 1866,
and the School of Medicine and Pharmacy, founded by Muhammad Ali
in 1827. In 1935, some of the other higher schools were incor-
porated, such as the School of Engineering and the School Of
Veterinary Medicine. Thus, emerged the first modern Egyptian
university which came to be called Fuad I University in 1940.

It was in the early 1940's that a third type of school was
devised. As a means of getting basic education to the farm and
village population, the rural elementary school was introduced.
(See figure 6.) The curriculum was intended to fit the pupil
for the demands of his immediate environment. The expansion
of the program was delayed, however, due to the unavailability
of adequate staff.

Common to all types of elementary school were the absence
of fees, omission of foreign language study, and concentration
on reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion. At the end of
the elementary school years, it was technically possible for
pupils to take entrance examinations for the primary schools.
They could also elect one Of the terminal, vocational programs.
Generally, however, pupils dropped out of school before or upon

completing the elementary segment.

68

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
   
 

 

 

 

 

 

Home or Kuttab

Fig. 6.-Education in Egypt, 1946

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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>:
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Nursery

 

 

 

69

The primary school ladder continued to Offer a kinder-
garten program of three years, a four-year primary program,
and a five-year secondary program. Through those Offerings,
students could gain access to the higher schools with courses
ranging from four to six and one-half years. Like the French
model, examinations were important at every level; and they were
necessary to determine advancement. The secondary school, like
the 1ycée, had a general academic course followed by public
examinations. For those selected after the examinations, there
was a final year with Options in literary, scientific, or
mathematical specialization. Another examination determined

the issuance of a diploma, approximating the French baccalaureat.

 

The prestige Of the foreign schools remained high, in
spite Of the similarity in structure between the foreign system
and the Egyptian primary system. Although more pupils passed
through the public and private Egyptian schools, by 1945, the
foreign teachers and pupils constituted one-fourth Of the
country's school population. European economic and cultural
penetration Of Egypt was at its peak. It is possible that
distrust Of the British position in Egypt was also at its
highest pitch. While the English sought political advantage
by direct, diplomatic means, the French pursued their so-called
civilizing mission. They were considered to have been successful
in Egypt, according to Crabites. In his warning to the British
Parliament, he said, "The light which burns to the prestige of

France is there to prove it."59

 

59Crabites,‘9_p. cit., p. 183.

70
The French in Tunisia

Tunisia, with its Roman and Carthaginian history,
shared the experiences of the earliest Arab Empire. As a
relatively independent part of the Ottoman Empire, Tunisia
had experienced the machinations Of the Turkish, French, and
British governments as well as the workings of the Ulgmg. The
ancient Zaytouna Mosque performed a static function similar
to that Of Al-Azhar in its most conservative periods. More-
over, Tunisia underwent the effect of the French encroachment,
particularly after the capture of Algeria in 1830.

Two scholars whose work gained educational and political
significance within the empire are distinctively identified with
Tunisia. The first was ibn-Khaldun (1332-1406). His works
on historiography, and his contribution toward the foundation
of sociology, have been recognized by Arnold Toynbee and other

60

scholars in those fields. Professor Sarton considers ibn-

Khaldun the greatest historian and sociologist of the Middle

1 .
Ages who "came too late not only to be translated into Latin,

and thus fall in the stream of western learning: he came too
late even to be appreciated by his own people."61 Ibn-Khaldun
did, however, become an Object Of pride and study throughout
the Arab world wherever there were liberal reforms taking
place in education.

The other Tunisian scholar was Khayr al-Din, born in

the Caucasus but whose career was centered in Tunisia. He

 

60Rom Landau, The Arab Heritage Of Western Civilization
(New York: Arab Information Center, 1962), p. 75.

61George Sarton, "Islamic Science," Near Eastern Culture
and Society, ed. T. Cyler Young (Princeton: Princeton University

Press, 1951), p. 92.

at...“

71
received a classical Arabic religious education as well as
the so-called modern education which included the study Of
French language. Early in his political career, Khayr al-
Din was sent to Paris by the Bey of Tunis, the Sultan's
representative in Tunisia. After four formative and en-
riching years of study in Paris, Khayr al-Din returned to
Tunis where he initiated a movement for constitutional reform.
He became prime minister in 1873, culminating a series of
appointments to governmental posts.

Like Muhammad Abduh, Khayr al-Din wished to take those

things from the West Which were adaptable to his own country,
without having an actual occupation by a foreign country.
To him, the superiority of the West resulted not from Chris-
tianity but, ultimately, from western political institutions.
The way to modernism resided in education, and education was
dependent on responsible government.62

Khayr al-Din attempted reforms in both government and
in the structure of education. Always in a position of having
to defend European modernism in terms Of Muslim traditionalism,
he brought the studies of the Zaytouna under the regulation
of the Bey. Also, during his term as prime minister, Khayr
al-Din prescribed textbooks for the first time: and he intro-
duced modern, Optional studies into the Zaytouna curriculum.
It is doubtful that the curriculum could have been seriously

effected by these changes, since the prescribed textbooks

 

62Albert Hourani, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age,
1798-1939 (London: Oxford University Press, 1962), pp. 84-94.

 

 

72

were, among the newest, three centuries Old.63

The precedent
was, thus, established.

The attempt to modernize education was further ex-
pressed in the founding of the Sadiki College, a secondary
school in the French sense. Established in 1875, the school
Offered courses in arithmetic, geometry, architecture, astronomy,
and history and geography of the Arabs. Concentration on
memorization of the ancient curriculum greatly outweighed any
small attempts at modernism, however. Further efforts by
Khayr al-Din were prevented by his expulsion from the country
within three years after his founding Of the Sadiki College.

On the eve of the French occupation, the Zaytouna
Mosque with its few hundred students and the system Of kuttabs
continued to demand memorization of the Koran by rote. The
only other type of schooling available was in the foreign
schools Operated by the French Brothers Of the Christian
Doctrine. Even so, by 1880 there were only three foreign
schools in Tunisia. They had a total enrollment of 465,
including four Arabs.64

The French Protectorate, 188l-1956.--On the pretext
of quelling a Tunisian raid across the Algerian frontier,
France took Tunisia without a struggle. While the French
role was said to be supervisory, for all practical purposes

it was all-pervasive. Total power was exercised by the

French Resident-General. As a nation Of cities climaxed

 

63L. C. Brown, "Tunisia: Education, 'Cultural Unity'
and the Future," Unpublished letter from Tunis, December 1, 1960.

64Ibid.

73
by the one great capital, Tunisia and her peOple had been
accustomed for centuries to minorities ruling poor, unedu-
cated masses. NO disturbing changes were required in order
to adapt the country to the French system.

Unlike Napoleon's procedure in Egypt, the Frenchmen
in Tunisia made only a negligible effort toward studying the
country, toward educating or spreading foreign culture
among the indigenes. One of the prObable explanations for
this would be that the French, in keeping with the classical
period of imperialism, were interested in establishing a
French colony. Also, instead of being scientists or soldiers,
the Frenchmen who came to Tunisia in 1881 were business
people. Poncet indicates that they were, in fact, wealthy
business people who made large investments in agricultural

65 The settlers

enterprise and in industrial development.

‘were interested in having their children receive an education

comparable to that available in their homeland: but they saw

no apparent need to improve schooling for the native population.
The kinds of schools which operated during the French

protectorate were numerous. The Old, religious system con-

tinued to be untouched. In addition, there was the metro-

politan French system, established.by the colonists. A third,

compromised system called the Franco-Arab or assimilated

system was developed at the primary level. Its graduates

could proceed to the Sadiki College which was allowed to

remain in Operation.

 

65Jean Poncet, La Colonisation et l'Agriculture
Européenes en Tunisie depuis 1881 (Paris: Mouton, 1961), p. 142.

74
The French schools, designed to accommodate the
colonizing forces, were integrated with the French metro-
politan organization. Textbooks, teachers, examinations,
and certificates were supplied and controlled by the French
National Ministry Of Education in Paris. The system as it
Operated in Tunisia was, in a very real sense, education for
the ruling class. As such, the system admitted some non-
French applicants who wished to be identified with that class.
Regardless of their background or nationality, pupils in the
French system followed the French pattern. If they attended
a lygég, they sat for the same baccalauréat examinations as
the students in metropolitan France. Those electing to pursue
higher studies did so in French universities, usually at the
University of Paris. The educational policy during the pro-
tectorate was summed up by a French scholar in Tunis as follows:
Two great tendencies seem to have presided over the

erection Of schools and the development Of sOhool enroll-

ment; the concern Of the authorities to assure the maximum

instruction Of French children, and the necessity to plan

by priority more important population centers for school

bu11d1ng.6
It appears, then, that the French policy Of building schools
in urban areas was duplicated in Tunisia. Not only did the
policy apply to the French system overseas but to the build-
ing of Franco-Arab schools as well. The Koran-type school
was left to the rural areas.

Development of the Franco-Arab system was Obviously

limited to the level Of primary education, since there was

 

66Jean Poncet, "La Scolarisation de la Tunisie et le
Milieu Social," Paper presented at a Conference on Public
Education, Tunis, April 1949.

75
only one secondary school of that type during the entire
period Of the protectorate. That school was the Sadiki
College at Tunis. For the Tunisian Muslim, even in a major
center Outside Of Tunis, the choice would have been between
(1) a terminal program of education in which French would
dominate but which would also include limited study Of the
Arabic language and culture, (2) a move to Tunis where assimi-
lated, French-dominated secondary schooling could be tried,
(3) application to a wholly French system, (4) a few years
of Koranic memorization in the local mosque, or (5) no school-
ing at all.

The role Of the assimilated or Franco-Arab system of
education must not be minimized. At the primary level, it
served as a pattern for modern Tunisian education. Also, the
lone Sadiki College, with its relatively small enrollment,
became the center Of intellectual activity within the whole
school-going Muslim community. Prominent Tunisians who were
trained there include Habib Bourguiba, several of his present
cabinet ministers, and numerous founders and adherents of the
Neo-Destour Party.

Among the so-called private systems, three deserve
consideration if only to demonstrate the complex legacy Of
Tunisian education. One of them was developed within the
Jewish community and was called the Alliance Israelite.
Schools of that category largely duplicated the French cur-
riculum'but they Offered Hebraic studies as well. Another

type developed within the complex of the Zaytouna Mosque.

76
The mosque itself, with a series of annexes for various kinds
of training, Offered courses in Arabic language and literature
as well as courses in the Islamic juridical and religious
sciences. Several teachers tried to instigate reforms through

a core movement called the Khalduniya, named for the renowned

 

fourteenth century ibn—Khaldun. The group was established
in 1895 by a few reform-minded Tunisian Muslims

for the purpose of giving Zaytouna students some background
in modern studies. Finding little Official response from
the Zaytouna leadership, the Khalduniya (which interestingly
enough did get the warm support of the French Resident, Rene
Millet) was obliged to give Off-hour instruction in foreign
languages and modern studies on a completely voluntary basis
to interested Zaytouna students.67

The Khalduniya did not accomplish the formidable task of re-

 

conciling religious traditionalism and modern secularism, but

it did serve to "pave the way for an acceptance by tradition—
alist bourgeoisie and urban workers of modern, secular ideas;
and to this extent, it was a necessary forerunner Of the Neo-
Destour Of the 1930's."68 The movement toward modernization was
eventually dissipated, but its product, the Sadiki College,
carried on the wedding of the two cultures.

A third variation in the private sphere was the modern
Koranic school which was distinct from the Old kuttab. This
type Of primary education was intended to carry on the work
of the kuttab to the extent that Arabic language would be used
in the pursuit of Islamic studies. Its modernity rested more
on newer techniques and teaching methods. The modern Koranic

schools had the support of the religious charitable funds as

 

67Brown,‘<_>p. cit., p. 10. , 68Ibid.

77

well as support from private subscriptions. These schools
have come under the direction Of the State Secretariat for
Tunisian Education as part of its "nationalization" program.

This variegated and diverse educational scheme was
due for revision by the end of World War II. In 1947, Mahmud
Messadi, the present Minister of Education, expressed criticism
of the complex systems, and he presented his case for unification.
"If the society is a living reality, one and indivisible," he
said, "then the culture will be so aswell."69 The democrat-
ization of education which came to France after the war seemed
to be reflected in Tunisia. In the first post-war decade, the
school enrollment of Tunisian children aged five to fourteen

increased from 14% to 20%.70

But like the internal Zaytouna
reforms, it was a matter of tOO little, tOO late.

In the 1950's, both Tunisia and Egypt made their bid
for new national life. After a long and carefully executed
campaign, the young Free Officers Group gained a numerical
advantage over the Officers who were loyal to the Egyptian
Crown. King Faruq was deposed in the 1952 coup: and General
Neguib became titular head of the Revolutionary Council which
assumed command. Egypt was declared a republic the following
year; and in 1954, Colonel Nasser became premier, thereby
gaining the title suited to the authority he already exercised.

Tunisia, through negotiations with France, was granted independence

in 1956 and the Official status Of a republic in 1957.

 

69Brown,.gp. cit., p. 1, citing Mahmud Messadi, A;
Mabaheth, an Arabic language review, 1947.

70United Nations, Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization, World Survey Of Education (Primary Education)
(Paris, 1958), II, 989.

CHAPTER III

THE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION IN THE UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC

Education, like other institutions, experienced the tight
control of the Revolutionary Command Council in the early days
of the republic. The teaching profession was purged of politi-
cally "disloyal" members, and in the transfer of power from
General Neguib to Colonel Nasser, the state universities were
closed in order to forestall student riots against the newly—formed
government. The various types Of pre-university schools con-
tinuing from the regime of King Faruq, were subjected to a
sequence Of alterations and refinements. The series of laws
affecting education from 1953 to 1961 provide a rather complete
image of the revolutionary cycle extending from reaction and
reactionary controls to optimism with its attitude Of generous
expansion: and finally, there is a gradual conservative retrench-
ment. The writer believes that the events and refinements in
education since 1961 are more permanently indicative of the
government policy. The frequent shifts in emphasis Of the Nasser
government, which caused so much uncertainty and reluctance on
the part Of political analysts, seem now to have developed into
a pattern.

One Of the first steps in the campaign against illiteracy
was expressed in the Education Act Of 1953 which specified that
education was compulsory for children between the ages of six

78

.u..——I

 

 

79
and twelve. The educational structure was not, itself, altered
until after the law of 1956, at which time education was reor-
ganized into primary, preparatory, and secondary stages. Under
those circumstances, pupils were apt to be in the preparatory
stage when they reached the legal school-leaving age. The
Education Act of 1957 clarified the matter by declaring that
preparatory education was an independent stage lasting three
years. It was to be free but not compulsory.1
Law 120 of 1958 was issued "for the purpose of Arabicizing
foreign schools. It stipulated that all the School proprietors,
directors and staff must be Arabs, and limited foreign elements
at such schools to language instruction.“2 The term "foreign"
was to be replaced by the term "private" in reference to schools
operated by groups other than Egyptian nationals. Under either
name, school curriculum was to be adapted to the government
syllabus. Nevertheless, foreign schools have continued to pre-
pare their students for special examinations, said to be equal
to the examinations for the secondary education leaving certi-
ficate. The possibility of the survival of these schools has
been intimated by Boktor who writes that:
It has been suggested that if these schools were
called language schools, and their school subjects
dealing with national matters were taught in Arabic,

there would be no objection if the res§ of the subjects
would be taught in a foreign language.

 

1U. S., Department of Health, Education, and Welfare,

Office of Education, Educational Data: United Arab Republic
,jSouthern Region), compiled by Abul H. K. Sassani (washington:
U. S. Government Printing Office, 1961), p. 2.

2Amir Boktor, The Development and Expansion of Education

in the United Arab Republic (Cairo: American University in Cairo
Pfess, 1963), p.’76.

31bid.

80

In 1961 the four universities came exclusively under
the new Ministry of Higher Education. Al-Azhar also ex-
perienced drastic revision. Having already added some secular
faculties to its university, Al-Azhar came under the specific
directorship of the president of the republic. Following
that legislation, the Rector commented,"The Almighty has
now ordained that Al-Azhar shall enter the field of science
in addition to its spiritual mission."4

The present educational system is summarized in figure 7.
It is extremely complex from both the standpoint of administra-
tive structure and of organization and distribution of the
institutions themselves. This results partly from the narrow
specialization of single schools and from the fact that, in
many cases, separate schools exist for men and women.

The six-year elementary school <maktab) is the main-
stay of Egyptian education. Although there are slight varia-
tions according to geographical area, the curriculum is gener-
ally standardized. Foreign language teaching is entirely
omitted from the elementary stage; and there is no longer a
primary school leaving examination. Instead, admission to
the next stage is based on a competitive entrance examination
rather than on primary school records. Although primary school
attendance is far from being universal, the present five-year
plan anticipates that all children of age six will be accommo—
dated by 1965.5 Girls made up about one-fourth of the 1963

enrollment.

 

_ 4Bayard Dodge, Al-Azhar; A millenium of Muslim Learning
(washington: The Middle East Institute, 1961), cover addendum.

 

5Boktor,gp. cit., p. 6.

 

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82

_Post-Primary’Education.--Only 20 per cent of the pupils
graduated from the primary schools are admitted to the second
stage which is of essentially three categories. The group
of schools referred to as post-primary are not strictly
preparatory schools. They provide training in basic occupa-
tional skills, but they do not prepare Students for secondary
schools. Sometimes referred to as Practical Preparatory
Schools, their curriculum is intended to be sufficiently
flexible so as to meet changing local demands for labor.

The vocational or technical preparatory schools offer
a course of three years with training in commercial, agricul-
tural, or industrial skills. It is to this phase of technical
education that much attention and money is being diverted.

It is hoped that enrollment at technical schools by 1965 will
be double that of 1960; and to that end, the government has
increased its budget for technical preparatory education at
the expense of academic education.

The general or academic schools enroll the greater
portion of pupils at the preparatory level. Although academic
enrollment continues to increase slowly, it is insignificant
When compared to the technical schools. Whereas the ratio of
general preparatory school enrollment to technical school en-
rollment was about ten to one in 1958, in 1964 the ratio was
four to one.6

The curriculum of the general preparatory school is

substantially an extension of the primary school course.

 

61bid.’ p. 44.

‘1

83

Notable exceptions are the addition of more advanced mathe-
matics and the introduction of a foreign language. Public
examinations are administered following the third year of
all preparatory studies. Of those who pass the competitive
examinations, approximately 40 per cent are admitted to
secondary schools.7
' The secondary stage is complementary to the prepara—
tory stage. Technical education is offered in agricultural,
commercial, and industrial sections, consecutive to those
offerings at the preparatory level. Within the general or
academic secondary school, the first year is common to all
students. During the second and third years, however, the
choice of either literary or scientific branches must be made.

It is in the general secondary school that foreign
language study gains real significance. Although six hours
each week are devoted to foreign language study during each
of the three years of preparatory school, a second foreign
language is added to the secondary curriculum. Dean Boktor
indicates that six and four hours a week are given to the
study of first and second foreign languages, respectively,
during the first year of secondary school.8 The government
syllabus, however, designates seven hours a week for the
study of English during the first year, if that is the first
foreign language. If French is the first language, the

syllabus states only that it should continue as it is.9

7Ibid., p. 7. 81bid., p. 51.

9United Arab Republic, Ministry of Education, Documen-
tation and Research Centre, Syllabuses of the General
Secondary School (Cairo: General OrganizaEIOn for Government
Printing Offices, 1962), pp. 28, 41 (passages translated by
the writer).

 

84
Judging from the French literary content during that first
year, the writer concludes that the syllabus presupposes a
high degree of competence.

During the second and third years of the literary
cycle, eight and seven hours a week, respectively, are
reserved for study of either French or English as the first
foreign language. In the scientific cycle, foreign language
courses occupy seven hours weekly during the second year and
six during the third.10 In addition, during those last two
years of secondary schooling, as much as three hours each
week may be devoted to "special" language courses in the
literary cycle. It appears that, in some cases, students
may spend nearly 50 per cent of the week's class periods
on foreign language study.

As for the prominence of the German language in
schools of the United Arab Republic, there is more Specula-
tion than public information. The syllabus issued by the
Cairo Ministry of Education is very clear, however, in its
specifications for the teaching of German. The syllabus,
which is printed in German, English, and French, accords about
the same numbers of hours to the study of German as to French
and English under the conditions described above. As the
first language, it is taught for seven hours each week during
the first year, eight hours in the second year, and for seven

hours during the third.11

——

IQLEi§-. p. 41. (See also, Boktor, gp. cit., p. 51.)

111bid., pp- 65-67.

85

In all language study, emphasis is placed on translation,
Reminiscent of the language schools founded during the reign of
Muhammed Ali, students are encouraged to read widely in the
foreign language of their first and second choice; and they
are expected to develop skill in translation to Arabic, At
least one hour each week for the three years is spent in trans-
lation exercise.

At the same level on the ladder as the secondary schools,
is a battery of institutes which offer training in music, home
economics, physical education, health education, and general
teaching training, In 1960, there were fifty-seven such
institutes for prospective teachers, twenty-eight for males
and twenty-nine for females. The total enrollment for the
fifty-seven institutions was 13,300.12 Graduating teachers
from these institutes are assigned positions in primary schools
and in some cases in preparatory schools. Some graduates who
produce exceptionally high examination grades and who have
demonstrated extraordinary skill are invited to enter one of
the higher institutes.

Successful graduates of the different secondary schools
are issued corresponding certificates which entitle them to
seek admission to one of the university faculties or the higher
institutes. Holders of the General Secondary Certificate have
access to any appropriate faculty or institute while holders
of the Technical Secondary Certificate are eligible only for
entry to the higher technical institutes. Graduates of the

teacher training institutes at the secondary level may be

 

12Boktor, op, cit., p, 10.

86
admitted to higher institutes of teacher training for their
special field. Figure 8 shows the variety of patterns which
these candidates may follow. Students from the general secondary
schools who enter one of the university faculties must, upon
completion, enter a faculty of education if they wish to become
teachers in secondary schools or in teacher training institutes.
At present, the only faculty of education is part of Ein Shams
University.

Still another set of special institutes is found beyond
the general secondary school, but they are not regarded as
equal to the level of universities and the higher institutes.
Some of the schools in this category train French language
teachers, and some are special schools for physical culture.
Still other institutes provide students with occupational
skills such as those needed to be a cashier or telegrapher.

Of the multiplicity of higher institutes and the numbers
of students enrolled in them, most are centered in Cairo. The
capital is also the site of two of the four state universities
along with the Azhar and the American University. Although
Alexandria University is well established and the newer
university at Assiut is expanding rapidly, about 70 per cent
of the nation's university students are enrolled at Cairo
University and at Ein Shams, in Cairo.13 With the addition

of the College of Business Administration and the Islamic

 

13United Arab Republic, Ministry of Education, Depart-
ment of Statistics, A Guide for Educational Statistics (Cairo:
Société Orientale de Publicité, 1962), p. 18.

 

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U

87

 

Faculty of Education

AUNIVERSITY FACULTIES

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Fig. 8.-Teacher Training Organization in the United Arab Republic

 

 

88

Girls College to Al-Azhar, and in view of the progress toward
establiShing faculties of medicine, engineering, and agri-
culture at that institution, the city of Cairo seems to have
insured itself as the apex of Egyptian intellectual life.

Administration.--There has been some effort toward
administrative decentralization, but the results, if not the
efforts, have been slight and superficial. Samaan reported
as early as 1956 that the country had been divided into zones
in which educational authority was exercised independently
from the National Ministry of Education in Cairo.14 The in-
creased nationalization of schools since that year has,
apparently, necessitated more strict regulation and control
by the Cairo government. More recent reporting by Boktor
verifies the existence of zones, but he states that in those
areas where zonal authority is exercised, enforcement of
policy is more rigid and uniform than that meted out by the
Cairo ministries.15 Gulick and Pollock examined the lines
of zonal division and found that they often followed former
boundaries of governorates (Mohafzas) which had.been defined
by earlier regimes.l6 Such divisions have little or no re-
lation to social or economic life of the present. Conse-

quently, the administrative climate seems to be characterized

 

14Sadek H. Samaan, "Some Aspects of Education in Egypt,"
Teachers College Record, LVIII, No. 3 (December, 1956), p. 176.

l5Boktor,_gp. cit., p. 161.

16Luther Gulick and James K. Pollock, Government
Reorganization in thngnited_Arab Republic, A Report submitted
to the Central Committee for the Reorganization of the
Machinery of Government (Cairo, 1962), pp. 44-45.

89
by desultory decentralization, retraction of power into the
hands of the Cairo leadership, and generally an atmosphere
of regression. Redistribution of authority, even if it happens,
will most likely be limited to elementary school matters.
Quite clearly, the details of curriculum, school organization,
and the control of post—primary education remain the respon-
sibility of upper cadres of government officials.

Educational organization at the ministerial level has
become even more complex since 1961. At that time, separate
ministries were created for the administration of higher
education and for Al-Azhaf.l7 Separate ministers have also
been appointed.

Foreign Schools.--The study of the recent changes in
foreign schools is one of the most curious and challenging.
One is most apt to hear or read that there are no foreign
schools in the United Arab Republic at this time. Technically,
that is true. Many of them have come under the direction of
the Ministry of Education. As already noted, the others have
come to be called "private" schools. All of them have ex-
perienced some type of government regulation. Although the
government officially combined the administrations for private
and foreign schools, the term "foreign" must continue to be
used for purposes of study and distinction. Aside from language
implications, "foreign" distinguishes those schools that

do not yet follow'the government syllabus.

 

17The ministry responsible for all pre-university
schooling is reported by Gulick and Pollock to have 129,503
persons attached to the ministry's budget. If there is a
concentration of officials in the Cairo area, this might be a
factor in the maintenance of authority at the level of
central government. Ibid., p. 68.

90

The statistical changes with regard to foreign schools
in the United Arab Republic reflect the political instability
of the past few years. In the school year coinciding with the
Suez crisis, there were 156 French schools, 28 British schools,
and 21 American schools. The year following the nationalization
of the Suez Canal, there were no French schools listed by the
Arab government. On the other hand, American schools had
increased in number by one-third.18 Cairo declared that
the only schools representing the European aggressors that
would be allowed to continue operation would.be those that
were sponsored by the Vatican. Curiously enough, in the
year following the Suez crisis, government sources identified
137 Vatican schools.19 Furthermore, Vatican school enrollment
was nearly 53,000. The French schools, presumably no longer
extant by that time, had enrolled over 57,000 pupils prior
to the schools' dissolution a few months before.20 Confirmation
of assumptions in this delicate matter is difficult to obtain.
A reasonable conclusion is, nevertheless, that the Vatican
assumed sponsorship of the French schools.

By autumn of 1958 when diplomatic relations between
Egypt and the United States were at their poorest, following
years of controversy over the cost of Suez shipping and money

for the High Aswan Dam, one-fourth of the American schools

 

181Boktor,_qp. cit., p. 78.

19United Arab Republic, Ministry of Education, Department

of Statistics, Comparative Statistics of Education (Cairo:
Societe Orientale de Publicite, 1961), p. 75.

20Boktor,.gp. cit., pp. 78-79.

91

were closed. By 1960, half of the American schools that had
been operating in 1957 were under other direction.21 This
undulating pattern continued when the Ministry of Education
announced that “Russian will gradually replace French as the
second foreign language after English."22 This, of course,
followed the announcement of a loan agreement with the Soviet
Union.

In 1959 the French government was allowed to establish
a commission in Cairo for the direction of French assets in
Egypt. One new French school was opened to accommodate the
French children. The following year, there were five French
schools.23 In December of 1961, during the incident of the
arrest of French diplomats in Cairo, the French authorities
considered closing the French schools in the United Arab
Republic as a retaliatory measure. The Arab government acted
first by sequestering the schools along with some French busi-
ness interests.24 With the closing of the last French school
(for the second time in five years) many of the French teachers
left the country. The need to replace these teachers by foreign
residents or by teachers in training in the United Arab Republic
was urgent. The effort to compensate for the loss of teachers
from France is evident in the government statistics which show

that the number of French language teachers being graduated

 

21United Arab Republic, Comparative Statistics, loc. cit.

22Lands East, November, 1958, p. 23.

 

23United Arab Republic, Comparative Statistics, loc. cit.

 

24Le Monde (Paris), December 28, 1961-January 3, 1962, p.3,

92

from Egyptian teacher training institutions quadrupled from
1956 to 1961.25 Although there is dissatisfaction with the
oral competence of the locally-trained language teachers, the
government is accomplishing its policy of using whatever
foreign institutions are helpful, without having the foreigners.
With the continued operation of former foreign schools, there
is also some budgetary advantage for the Cairo ministry. For
that reason, Mills states that the government "is wary of en-
croaching too far on the freedom of foreign school directors."26

The Vatican schools have continued to function but in
gradually diminishing number. At the end of the 1962 school
year, there were still 230 foreign schools in the United Arab
Republic, of which 93 were under Vatican sponsorship. Total
enrollment in all foreign schools was almost 92,000, representing
about one—fifth of all students enrolled in private schools,

foreign or Egyptian.27

 

25United Arab Republic, Comparative Statistics, 2p.
cit., p. 104.

26Arthur Mills, "The Impact of Cultural Factors on
Economic Activity," Paper presented at an international seminar
on Comparative Administrative Problems, Cairo, April 21, 1959.

27United Arab Republic, A Guide for Educational Statistics,
‘gp. cit., p. 15.

 

 

CHAPTER IV
TUNISIAN EDUCATION SINCE INDEPENDENCE

With the coming of independence in 1956 and the formation
of the Republic in 1957, Tunisia was faced with matters of ad-
justment somewhat different from those of other new nations.

The conditions which had made Tunisia readily adaptable to
French rule over a period of two generations were basically
the same as those which made difficult her struggle for self-
determination. As Hitti has pointed out,
The fact that this whole North African block was the first
to be detached from the Arab Moslem world and brought within
the sphere of Western influence, together with the fact
that its geographic position was peripheral to the lands of
Islam and that its population had a large noneArab element,
served to denationalize its people and make them follow a
course of their own.
This denial or rejection of cultural ties was emphasized in the
early republican days in the diSputes both with the government
of France and with the Arab League. The course which Tunisia
set for herself, then, was one of cautious direction toward
cultural unity, in the achievement of which education would
occupy a major position.

Following independence, there was neither immediate nor

drastic reform in the national and private systems of education.

 

1Philip K. Hitti, The Arabs (Chicago: Henry Regnery
Company, 1949), pp. 254-55.

93

94

The government was not hasty in discarding the old or in
developing something new, Rather there was a patient and de-
liberate continuation of the systems which operated under the
protectorate in order that the new national life might seek
stability in the light of newer, more pressing problems arising
from political and economic uncertainty,2 Government leaders
were sharply aware of the acute shortage of resources for
educational development. They were also aware that the complex
and divisive systems left by the French would not serve to
create a unified nation. The petrified, religious system

could not enhance the drive for progress, and the French system
had never been adapted to Tunisian life, modern or otherwise.
Most of all, the officials were cognizant of the staggering
disparity between education of Europeans in Tunisia and Tunisian

Muslims.3 If a new system.were introduced, it might have to

 

2Michel Abu Jaudeh reports that within the year between
the granting of independence and the founding of the republic,
90,000 Frenchmen emigrated from Tunisia including some 13,000
civil servants. Part of the result was large-scale unemploy-
ment, reported to have been 300000 in 1957 with another
200,000 partially unemployed. That, added to a 1957 trade
balance deficit of ninety millions of Lebanese pounds and
the responsibility for hoards of Algerian refugees, must
have appeared as depressing obstacles. "Tunisia Today,"
Middle East Forum, XXXV, No. 5 (May, 1959), pp. 3-5.

3The inhalance is dramatically clear for the year 1959
when 94 per cent of French children eligible for school in
Tunisia were in actual attendance compared to 12 per cent of
Tunisian Muslims. Tunisia, Secretary of State for National
Education, New Conception of Education in Tunisia (USOM/T;
Education Division7(Tunis, 1959), p. 5.

95
draw its staff from the latter, largely untrained group.
Furthermore, the government would have to provide for the edu-
cation of remaining French residents as well as for Tunisians.

As in the case of Egypt, Tunisians admired the scientific
modernism of the West, and their leaders wished to emulate part
of the developing pattern of which they had really been a part.
Also like Egypt, Tunisia had the obligation of preserving
cherished beliefs and honoring older-world traditions. Tunisia,
more than Egypt, however, was bound by reason of history and
geography to both the western, industrialized nations and to
the Arab-Islamic East. Those dual connections could prove to
be advantageous in creating the new nation.

To the policy of no immediate change, the Zaytouna
system was the possible exception, if only in a technical sense.
Although the French had not tampered with Zaytouna, there had
been agitation for change from within. Agitation was dissipated,
and practice continued to reflect the past: collapse was incipient
in the face of a new environment. The Zaytouna directorate had
been too acquiescent to French policy-makers to suit a new
nationalist regime; and characteristic of the Ulema, they were
too solidly entrenched in tradition to be in touch with the
modern social leaders. As for Zaytouna graduates, they found

placement difficult if not impossible.4 Under those conditions

 

4The Zaytouna has served the area of the Maghrib but it
never assumed the importance or religious autonomy of the Azhar
which has been the Islamic stronghold for nearly a thousand years.
Among the bedouin, particularly, there has been an attachment to
education in the great mosques; but the unsuitability of their
graduates for work in a modern world makes up one of the tragic
enigmas of the middle Eastern world.

96

at the onset of independence, the Zaytouna system was decentralized.
The various institutional annexes were incorporated into the
national secondary education system with the exception of one
school. That single building was able to survive to allow
students an opportunity to complete courses of study in progress.
Enrollment diminished gradually toward the scheduled closure.
The grand mosque, itself, no longer the head of an educational
empire, continues to function although weakened, disillusioned,
in disrepute and disrepair.
By the beginning of 1958, an interministerial committee

was formed for the purpose of defining the foundations of a
general educational reorganization, The objectives of the
committee were stated as being:

(1) To replace the juridical chaos and the great variety

of educations by a coherent, unified system, endowed with

a national character, and (2) To allow National Education

to perform its whole duty by edifying a harmonious cultural

system and by adapting education to the variety and evolution

of economical, social, technical and cultural needs of the

nation (and by further adapting education to) the demographic

growth by aiming at achieving a total school attendance

as quickly as possible.5
Anticipating the recommendations of the committee, the govern-
ment designated 18 per cent of its total national budget for
education,6

By the end of 1958, following negotiations with France,

the work of the committee was synchronized with that of other

 

5Tunisia, New Conception of Education, pp, cit., p, 8,

61bid., p, 9.

97

governmental agencies. President Bourguiba was ready to arti-
culate the resulting educational reforms. The proposed reforms
were summarized as having these four main aims: (l) unification
of the various types of schools, (2) re-nationalization, (3) adap-
tation of education to national life, and (4) horizontal and
vertical extension of education opportunity.7 The educational
aims of Tunisia as applied to individuals were more specifically
stated in the Arab World as follows:
to permit all its peOple to acquire the indispensable
knowledge which makes of the most humble citizen a useful
worker for the cause of the country and conscious of the
purpose of his task; and, to create on this base the conditions
which will best permit the more intelligent children to
attain the highest levels of knowledge possible---to advance
to the extent of their capabilities.

The task of introducing and enforcing a curriculum which
combined modern sciences and language with the study of Islamic
culture, seemed impossible to much of the Arab world. This,
nevertheless, was the task which Tunisia set for herself. More-
over, through a system of elementary and terminal vocational
schools, she became dedicated to the modern goal of education
for all.

What form, then, has educational program taken under the
new republic? As already noted, there was no sudden change, no

sweeping reform. The systems of the protectorate are still

operative in one form or another, in increasing or diminishing

 

71bid.

8"Tunisia Seeks a Future in Education," The AEéb world,
March, 1961, p. 8.

98

force, but all are now pointed toward the achievement of the
fixed concept of "cultural unity" as conceived by M. Messadi.

The schools have not, as yet, been able to accomplish the
government's hopes for a unified program where attendance is
compulsory and universal and in which Arabic is the primary lan-
guage of instruction. The aims are most nearly realized, however,
in the new elementary system under the control of the Secretary
of State for National Education of the Republic of Tunisia.

It is this system which forms the core of new Tunisian general
education and which provides, in large part, the foundations of
new Tunisian life. Most previously-existing elementary systems
were incorporated in this single system. Included in the nation-
alizing process were the modern Koranic schools, some French
schools, the Franco-Arab schools and those of the Alliance
Israelite. The few institutions not yet included in the national
system are apt to be all Frenchelanguage schools operated either
by religious or lay groups in commercial areas.

The announcement and initiation of this new national
program in 1958 was the first large scale effort toward the
progressive evolution of an Arab—Tunisian society through edu-
cation. Improving an earlier plan to give increased instruction
in Arabic to boys, the ministry declared Arabic the sole language
of instruction for boys and girls for their first two years of
schooling, beginning in the year 1958-59. In order to produce
a significant increase in enrollment though, it was necessary
to compromise the plan from the beginning. Out of consideration
of the teacher shortage and the need to get more children in

school, the ministry chose to have the first two years of

99
education consist of half days or about fifteen hours of weekly
instruction for each child. It was reasoned that full-time
teachers could accommodate many more pupils than under the
previous system. Classroom space could also be conserved.

The curriculum is basically the same everywhere for the
six year elementary program.9 While there is sufficient flexi—
bility to allow for adjustment to peculiarities of the local
economy, whether it be agricultural or maritime, the basic
studies must be treated similarly in all areas in order to pro-
vide equal preparation for the primary school leaving examination.
During the first two years, concentration on the basic subjects
of Arabic, arithmetic, practical training, moral and social
training provides the maximum opportunity for introducing
Arabic as the major instructional language while French is
taught as a first foreign language.10

Beginning with the third year, pupils attend classes for
about twenty—five hours each week, and French is more likely to
be introduced as a language of instruction. The increasing
importance or prominence of French language in successive years
of schooling seems to guarantee retention of the French language.
There is a move, however, to inject the kind of subjects into

later years of schooling that would promote teaching in Arabic

 

9U. S., Department of Health, Education, and Welfare-
Office of Education, International Educational Relations,
Educational Data: Republic of Tunisia, compiled by Abul H.
K. Sassani (Washington: U. S. Government Printing Office,
1960). p. 2.

10In the schools during the protectorate, Arabic was
taught as a foreign language.

100
as in the first two years. Such courses as Arabic literature,
Islamic thought, Tunisian history and geography are to be taught
in Arabic; and they, along with religious studies, reflect the
new national character of the curriculum,

Post—Primary,Education,--As in the primary schools,

 

post—primary education is largely free but not compulsory,
Of the pupils who have successfully completed primary school
leaving examinations, those wishing to continue their schooling
have essentially two choices, Students whose capacities or
aptitudes do not indicate that they would profit from academic
secondary schooling may be directed toward terminal, inter-
mediate.schools, Terminal education is of three years' maximum
duration, and it is offered in general, commercial, and indus-
trial options. All three streams are designed to provide basic
training for students who will become skilled or semi-skilled
workers. Training is given in such fields as mechanics, pipe
fitting, stone work, carpentry, commercial, industrial, or
agricultural trades,ll Although the normal primary school
leaving age is twelve, admission to terminal schools is permis—
sible up to age sixteen, except in the industrial section where
the age limit on entrance is seventeen, Appropriate certifi-
cates are issued following the successful completion of any of
the three sections.

Students with more favorable examination records may
elect the six—year secondary education program. It consists of

two three-year cycles. The whole course is offered in some

 

11U, 8., Educational Data: Republic of Tunisia,
92. cit., p. 3.

101
lycees, In cases where lycees provide only the last three years
of secondary schooling, students enter a college for the first
three-year cycle. In either case the first year is common to
all students, and it serves the same function as the observation
cycle in FrenCh schools. "All students study languages, mathe-
matics, sciences, history and geography, as well as manual
training and drawing,"12 Also during the first year batteries
of psychological tests are administered to students in order
to determine vocational and mental aptitudes. Test results
form the basis for direction of students into one of three
areas of specialization beginning with their second year of
secondary education. The three channels of study open to students
during the last two years of the first cycle are general,
economics, and technical. Students who leave school at the end
of the first cycle are issued a school certificate which shows
their school records.

The second cycle of secondary schooling is also of
three years' duration in which the options are more numerous.
Figure 9 shows the organizational structure. Superior students
from the tedhnical section are routed into mathematics special-
ization. Others from that section receive training in mechanics,
electronics, topography, construction, building trades and

hydraulics.13 Students in the economics section who are not

 

12Education in Tunisia (Washington: American Friends
of the Middle East, Inc., 1963), p. 2.

 

13Ibido I p. 3.

102

 

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103
considered capable of specializing in economics are directed
into a commercial section which gives preparation in accounting
and secretarial services, Graduates of industrial and commer-
cial sections are eligible for entrance to higher institutes,
but they are not eligible to enter the universities as are the
graduates of the mathematics and economics sections.

The greatest number of choices exists in the general
secondary track, There, the student may be directed toward
studies of classical or modern language and literature, science,
or humanities. A student may, after taking a competitive exa-
mination, be selected to enter the normal school section which
prepares primary school teachers, All sections of the general

course, except the normal school, lead to the baccalaureat.

 

Graduates of the latter section are issued a diploma of study
completion, As in the case of the French model, students enrolled

in sections leading to the baccalaureat must sit for an ex-

 

amination at the end of the fifth year of their secondary train-
ing. (That is at the end of the secomd year of the second cycle.)
Successful students engage in intensive specialization during

the sixth year following which there are both oral and written
examinations. As in France, students who do not receive the

baccalaureat following these examinations may take supplemental

 

examinations the next autumn.

Higher Education.--Students with the baccalauréat are

 

 

eligible for admission to the University of Paris as well as to

other French universities without further examinations, They

104

may also enter the preparatory courses at the grandes écoles of

France,14 Naturally, they may also be admitted to higher schools

 

in Tunis.

Former Tunisian higher institutes and some of the
Zaytouna annexes have now been reorganized and incorporated in
the new University of Tunis, The university includes faculties,

institutes, and_grandes écoles, Holders of the baccalaureat

 

 

are admitted to any of those categories for which they would
seem fitted, Generally they enter one of the university
faculties. Included in the institutes is the National Technical
Institute which admits certificated graduates of the industrial
section of the secondary schools. The Higher School of Business
and Commerce which admits certificated graduates of the com-

mercial section is included as a grande ecole, at a level equal

 

to secondary teacher training institutions and the Ford
Foundation-supported Bourguiba School of Modern Languages,
Although they do not relate, specifically, to the
Ministry of Education, the many researdh institutes in Tunis
have an important role to perform in relation to the university
and to the scientific develOpment of the country, Some of them
are already well—established and respected institutions, of
which the Institut Pasteur de Tunis, founded in 1893, is an

example. While several of the institutes Coordinate their

 

l4Some French universities also require a preparatory
year of studies (année propédeutique) as a means of further
screening as well as a means of discouraging entrance into
some faculties by disproportionate numbers of students.

105
laboratory facilities and activities with the teaching program
of the Faculty of Science, most of them are independent research
organizations. The work of the institutes is particularly
significant in the fields of animal and vegetal biology, phar-
macology, parasitology, and oceanography, Research institutes
which have been founded since independence concentrate on
subjects ranging from tuberculosis chemotherapy and chemopro-
phylaxis to atomic physics. The inheritance of numerous insti-
tutions of this type from the French has included many devoted
research workers.- If the quality of these institutes can be
maintained, they should have a beneficial effect on university
studies and on the opportunities open to students in scientific
fields.

Teacher Training.--Teachers for the primary schools

 

are trained in the normal school section of secondary education,
as discussed earlier, Although most teacher training courses
are given in Tunis, several normal school sections have been
opened in outlying schools. Preparation of teadhers is carried
out in two sub-sections to allow for training in both French
and Arabic languages. Candidates who are admitted to the pro-
gram are committed to ten years of service to the Secretariat
of Education.15
Preparation of intermediate and secondary teachers

is exclusively carried out by the various components of the

state university, Prospective teachers for the first cycle

 

15United Nations, Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization, World Survey of Education (Secondary Education)
(New York, 196177 III, 1090.

106
of secondary education and for terminal, intermediate schools
receive their formal training at the Normal School for Associate
Professors, The training period lasts for three years, Also
attached to the University of Tunis is the Higher Teachers
College. That course, also of three years' duration, trains
secondary school teachers of the second cycle, Although these
students take some pedagogical courses, they pursue studies in
the various faculties according to their area of subject
specialization, Upon successful completion of the course of
study, these teachers are awarded a university degree (licence).

Administration and Inspection,--Responsibility for

 

general organization, curriculum, buildings, and staff appoint-
ment is centered in various departments of the State Secretariat
for National Education in Tunisia. The efforts and proposals
of the various departments are consequently coordinated in the
Office of the Minister of Education. Inspection of schools
is also to a large extent a function of the National Ministry,
Separate groups of inspectors are assigned to Arabic and French
classes, particularly at the primary school level.

Inspection of secondary education is still carried
out by the French Ministry of National Education in Paris, One
might expect that the annual visitation by French inspectors-
general is a condition of recognition of the Tunisian bacca-
lauréat for admission to French universities. That, however,
is not stated, A program for the training of Tunisian inspectors

has been instituted, and it is anticipated that supervision of

107
more areas of secondary school may eventually be carried out
by Tunisians.

As in France, teachers are employees of the national
government, Teachers from France who teach in Tunisia on a
contract basis are subject to negotiations by the French and
Tunisian governments. The appointments and salaries of such
teachers are more likely to be based on situations in metrOpo-
litan France, however, than on the conditions met by Tunisian

national teachers.

CHAPTER V

EDUCATION IN THE UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC:

AREAS OF POSSIBLE FRENCH INFLUENCE

To state or to demonstrate that there are resemblances
between the institutional activities of two countries is
relatively easy. To show in any scientific sense that one
has influenced the other is often very difficult. Sometimes
it is impossible. Yet, where there is change, the possibility
of influence exists. In this period of accelerated change
on an international scale, the source, nature, means, and effect
of influence have become matters of study and speculation,
pervading every academic discipline. In this and the following
chapter, several Variable aspects of the educational institu-
tions of the United Arab Republic and Tunisia will be summarized
in terms of their possible similarity to institutions of
another country, particularly France. Whether or not the
similarity results from external influence is, of course,

a major concern. The following institutional features will
be considered: (1) the administrative structure, (2) any
curricular variations, (3) the plan for teacher training, and

(4) the means by which an educated elite is structured.

108

109
Administration

There are numerous similarities between the methods
of organization of education in the United Arab Republic and
in France. Both countries are divided into administrative
zones or academies; and in each the pattern of the inspectoral
hierarchy is the same. This means that aside from local
officials to whom minimal reSponsibilities are allocated,
there are zonal inspectors who oversee the local activity;
and there are ministerial inspectors who exercise superior
authority in both the regional and local spheres. Although
a similar structure is evident in the United Kingdom, the
freedom of the British headmaster in setting curriculum is
absent from both the French system and that of the United
Arab Republic.

In the latter countries, responsibility for school
matters is largely centered at the level of national govern-
ment. The central administrations articulate the goals of
national schools, they design the curriculum, and they super-
vise examination procedures. Similarly, matters of finance
and school facilities as well as responsibility for staff
certification are under the supervision of the central ministries.
Although both countries have made attempts at decentralization,
in neither case has the attempt been significantly effective.
Any trend toward decentralization, however, is regarded.by
the writer as a world trend resulting from factors other than

inter-national influence.

110

While the universities of France function in an atmos-
phere of greater freedom than those of the United Arab Republic,
in both countries the requirements for university admission
and standards for degrees and diplomas are set by the central
administration. Where foreign schools are concerned (in the
United Arab Republic), a committee of examiners, appointed by
the Ministry of Education in Cairo, administer examinations
which are presumably comparable to those formerly issued by
the Paris and London ministries. The writer interprets such
practice as an indication not only of the similarity in ad-
mission procedures but as indicative of a similarity in the
kind of admission requirement.

In the absence of meaningful choice among political
parties in the United Arab Republic, comparisons in the
parliamentary and administrative decision-making process
with regard to national education are largely precluded. The
inter-relationships of the president, the National Assembly,
and the Minister of Education, however, are such in the United
Arab Republic, that one may suspect with cause that under
conditions of more popularlybsupported government, the United
Arab Republic would experience clashes like those within the
French government. ‘While the rapid succession of education
ministers in France may well reflect differences from the
views of the president, collapse of the Government has, at
times, reflected differences within the National Assembly on
matters of education. During the Fifth Republic, the French
president has had only limited success in circumventing the

parliamentary framework while implementing his plans for

111

education. In the United Arab Republic, Kamal el din Hussein
has enjoyed a considerably longer tenure as Minister of Educa—
tion than many French counterparts; but his ideas have met with
similar Obstacles. A situation in which the wishes of the
Minister have over-ridden the action of the National Assembly
(with presidential sanction) has already been cited.1 However
complex the workings of government may be, the point is that
decisions which guide and affect education are made by the
central administration in both countries. Whatever influence
can be exerted at the top level, then, has paramount importance.

A major source of influence would likely stem from the
foreign schools themselves. If they provided what many
Egyptians apparently felt was the best education possible,
it is not unreasonable to expect that the pattern of such
schools would have been admired and emulated within the
administrative hierarchy of the national schools as well.
The placement of foreign school graduates and of European-
trained personnel in the Ministry of Education would also add
strength to the impact of the foreign schools. Recalling that
these schools (with a long and continuous administrative history)
numbered several hundreds at different times, it would seem
strange, indeed, if their impact were limited to foreign
language instruction.

Whereas the conditions of the revolutionary government

and the past experience of Egypt seem to have led the country

 

1Keith Wheelock, Nassgr's NeW'Egypt (New York: Frederick
A. Praeger, 1960), p. 116.

112
to a position of administrative centralism, the possibility
of influence, though harder to detect, still seems very real.
In such a case, French or other influence would be greatly
diffused within the Arab culture: and it would.be indirect
in nature. To the extent that Arab officials can divorce
their admiration of the French administrative system from
their dissatisfaction with French political activity in the
Middle East, the possibility of French influence continues
to exist.
Curriculum
The organization of schools into primary and preparatory
levels is most reminiscent of the system established under
Muhammad Ali in 1837.2 While the content of the Egyptian
primary cycle is neither startling nor unique, it is of a
matter of interest that the reference to its function as
disseminating general culture is the same term used by the
French in justifying the existence of a uniform curriculum.
The primary cycle, through a fixed core of subject matter,
is aimed at providing the "fundamental elements" of national
society to the great mass of people who will not proceed to
further education. The preparatory cycle, for those who are
admitted to it, is likewise a unit designed to form a complete
training experience.
It is at the secondary school level that the real
similarity to the French system emerges. Present Egyptian

organization is a variation, however slight, of the French-

 

2Supra, pp. 45-47°

113
inspired system of secondary education established in the
1920's. As can be seen in the diagram on page 68, the
secondary school formerly included the extra year of study
similar to the second year of specialization for the
baccalauréat in a French_lyg§_. The year of specialization
has now been omitted in the United Arab Republic: but there
is still a clear division of secondary education into literary
and scientific streams after the common first year. This
appears to be a direct parallel to the French system through
the Fourth Republic.

Both countries have introduced technical and vocational
education programs at the post-primary levels. Such programs
are apt to be terminal or continuous but low in prestige.

As such, they do not necessarily distinguish one country from
another. In both the systems of France and of the United
Arab Republic, however, a secondary school stream has been
reserved for those whose technical studies are of a calibre
that would qualify the student for entrance to the higher
schools. Since the baccalaupéat technique is a relatively
recent innovation in France, it is difficult to say that
preparatory training for higher technical institutes in the
United Arab Republic is an imitation of the French system.
Nevertheless, the practice of grooming the few highly com-
petent technical students for the higher institutes (as
distinct from the mass of technically-trained students who
terminate their education at lower levels) is very much like

the pattern established during the reign of Muhammad Ali.

114
The higher institutes of his day, like the French institutions
on which they were fashioned,3 have retained a high degree of
importance. The School of Engineering and the Khedival School
of Languages, no less than the grandes écoles of France, have
continued to be distinctive educational institutions to which
access is gained by the primary school ladder. Proliferation
of these higher institutes seems to be a continuation of a
peculiarly Egyptian practice. Although the Ministry of
Education has indicated a desire to consolidate the functions
of several of the institutes, their relatively great number
continues as does the relatively small enrollment in each.
It is likely, however, that the old, urban institutes maintain
higher prestige value.

As to the possibility of influence in republican
institutions, the writer concludes that as a result of wide
diffusion of direct French influence of the early nineteenth
century and of the indirect French influence (through Taha
Husayn) of the 1920's, present curriculum organization reflects
French influence. It is by no means recent or imitative. In
fact, on the surface, the system may well appear to be his-
torically an Egyptian product.

Teacher Training

Study of the teacher training programs of the United
Arab Republic reveals a similar penchant for numerous,
specialized institutions for both males and females. The

multiple types of specialized training are offered in scores of

 

3Supra, p. 42.

115

institutions designed for preparing teachers of the primary,
preparatory, and secondary levels.

Training of teachers is an area of education where
past Egyptian experience has been left wanting. In the process
of developing systems of schools from the early nineteenth
century onward, the pattern has largely been one of importa-
tion of teachers and exportation of students for teacher
training abroad. The exception, of course, applies to the
training of religious teachers for the mosque system. In
the recent drive for the accomplishment of national aims
and the concommitant implementation of a more "national"
curriculum, the need for teachers has been acute. With
the expulsion of many foreign teachers and the pressing
demand for teachers trained in Arabic language and in the
history and geography of their own lands, a sense of urgency
surrounded the staffing of schools. This resulted in the
practice of adding more teacher training schools of the
type already in existence rather than in any concerted effort
to consolidate or re-design the functions of those extant.
Consequently, current teacher training procedures can scarcely
be considered as innovative. Neither are they imitative. On
the contrary, it is plausible that those responsible for the
direction of teacher training programs have been guided by
the need to adapt to specific and immediate national demands,
even though their thinking may have been influenced by the
systems with which they were familiar. The result is a diverse
and complex mixture of institutions which, in some instances,

bear resemblance to those of other countries and which, in

116
other cases, reflect little more than a need to train teachers
quickly for the waiting positions.

The point at which primary school teacher training
begins appears to be a compromise between the two pre-
revolution systems. Under the dual system4 prospective
elementary teachers began their training after they left the
elementary school, or at about age eleven. Prospective primary
school teachers, on the other hand, began their training
following the fourth year of the five-year secondary course.
Beginning primary teacher trainees would have been about
sixteen years old under that system. In the present plan,
teacher training for the primary school begins at completion
of the preparatory stage when pupils are about fourteen.
Teachers are trained at that level for service in the rural
schools and in classes specializing in music, physical educa-
tion, home economics, and in some technical schools. Graduates
of these institutions may, upon presentation of very dis-
tinctive scholastic records, be admitted to higher teacher
training institutes designed for training teachers for the
preparatory or secondary levels.

The training of preparatory and secondary school
teachers is ordinarily carried out at the post-secondary
level. A series of teacher training institutes and colleges
exist for that purpose at a level parallel to the university
faculties.5 Students enrolled in the university faculties may

also become qualified for teaching in secondary schools by

 

4 5

See the diagram on p. 68. See the diagram on p. 87.

117
taking an additional year of study in the Faculty of Education
at Ein Shams University in Cairo after they have received
their university degree.

Although the preference for a university degree for
teachers in secondary schools is similar to practice both in
England and in France, the issuing of a Diploma of Educatbn
after the additional year of pedagogical studies is more
peculiarly English than French. On the other hand, while the
early training of primary school teachers was a feature of
British colonial practice, it has been a part of the metro-
politan French system for a long time. Admittedly, other
countries prepare primary school teachers at a comparably
early age, but it seems more logical that this is an adapta-
tion of the European-type system prevalent in Egypt prior to
1952. The introduction of the preparatory stage in the schools
of the United Arab Republic and the differences in laws
specifying the maximum compulsory age for attendance make
direct comparisons with model countries difficult. Where
similarities do exist, the writer tends to regard them, in
most cases, as transitional modifications of former practices.

Structuring the Elite

There is undoubtedly some method of upward screening
in the educational system of any country. The extent to which
the screening is deliberate, calculated, and enforced varies
from one country to another. The variance between countries
at the extremes results from a complexity of factors such as

the degree of mobility within the social system, the degree of

118
adherence to national tradition, the extent of industrialization,
and the impact of political custom. These factors, combined
with economic supply and demand, fashion a sort of educational
philosophy which, in turn, is reflected in the manner of
selection of school pupils. The extent to which this philosophy
is administered or translated into practice by a single level
of governmental apparatus determines the degree of flexibility
within the educational system and the freedom of access to it.
The writer believes that there is a pattern of social selectivity
and, hence, educational selectivity which is characteristic of
highly centralized governments.

France has often been studied as the prototype of
centralized administration. Her administrative structure has
been duplicated in some other countries. In still others
such as the United.Arab Republic, there is a natural history
which includes traits of centralization. Often these traits
result neither from external influence nor from emulation.

As a consequence, the cause of similarities may be easily
mistaken, or they may be hard to detect.

Both France and the United Arab Republic possess
characteristics which are peculiar to what might be called
the centralist syndrome. Such characteristics include a
highly centralized system of governmental authority, student
selectivity by means of external examination or other govern-
mentally-devised formula, and the concentration of educational

and intellectual productivity in the capital city.

119

As for the matter of selectivity or upward screening,
both France and the United Arab Republic display a philosophy
of state authority. The attitude is one in which the state,
as the supplier of education, has the right to determine whom
and how many it shall train. Although the French student seems
to have more freedom of choice in his area of specialization
than is the case in the United Arab Republic, the French
ministry has devised ways in which the activeition of student
choices can be delayed. In both cases, the selection process
becomes more rigorous as the training becomes more advanced.

By extending the compulsory age of attendance, France has made
less obvious her selection of students at early ages. The
process of sorting, however, remains the same. In the United
Arab Republic where school attendance is not yet compulsory
beyond the age of twelve, the government can make its selection
openly and early.

Public examinations are the primary vehiCles of selection
or rejection, and a percentage of successful candidates is
skimmed off at each level for further training. The kind of
further training is, similarly, determined by examination
results. By making primary education a terminal program for
more than four-fifths of the children enrolled, the United
Arab Republic appears to commit itself to a continuance of
the European system of minimum education for the masses.
Likewise, maximum education is assured for "the classes" or

at least for those whose success is clearly demonstrable.

120

Another possible similarity in the structuring of an
elite relates to what could be called a technical elite. As
mentioned earlier, both the secondary schools of France and
of the United Arab Republic have elevated some phases of tech-
nical education to a level at least equal to that of the
academic curriculum. Furthermore, access to the higher tech-
nical institutes in the United Arab Republic (as to the grandes
ecoles of France) for distinguished graduates of a technical
secondary school, seems to guarantee for both countries a highly
respected group with technically superior qualifications. This,
it seems to the writer, is a very direct extension of the posi—
tion occupied by the Egyptian higher institutes established
under French direction in the 1830's.6

The other aspect of the centralist syndrome of signifi-
cance to structuring an elite has to do with the influence and
dominance of the national capital. However well the French
have distributed their higher institutions among the numerous
academies, the magnetism of Paris has been sustained. The
capital city, in custody of great power and authority, becomes
in such a situation the intellectual center as well. France
has, in fact, often been considered by intellectuals as being
composed of two parts, namely Paris and all that is not Paris.
With a wide variety of faculties well placed throughout the
provinces, the University of Paris still attracts a greatly
disproportionate number of students, technically eligible for

entrance into any of seventeen universities. That condition

 

6Supra, p. 45.

121
persists even though the outlying facilities have been aug-
mented in ways designed to induce greater provincial
enrollment.

The United Arab Republic, like France, is a largely
agricultural country with great cities. Educational insti-
tutions have expanded from Cairo outward, but the prominence
of the capital city remains overwhelming. Of six major
universities, including the American University of Cairo
and Al—Azhar, four are located in the city of Cairo. The
more important institutes and teacher training schools are
also located in Cairo. University graduates desiring to
earn a Diploma of Education have no choice other than at-
tendance at Ein Shams University in Cairo. Alexandria
comes second in the number of institutions, as it did in the
proposal of 1837.7 Institutes outside of the two major
cities are those which give specialized occupational training
for women.

Since the United Arab Republic is governed by a
revolutionary government in transition, it cannot be
efficiently compared with the government of France.
Conditions of political centralism exist in both countries,
however, and they have existed for long periods of time.

As noted earlier, emulation of the administrative pattern
is not necessarily indicated. The fact that Egyptians were
accustomed to central government, of a sort, for centuries

is, however, important in the consideration of other aspects

 

7See the diagram on p. 46.

122
of possible influence. Given the conditions of centralism
the ways of France would have been easily adaptable. The
capital city as the central organ of government would be regarded
as a natural dispenser of law as well as of education. It would
be the focal point of national productivity and the place where
standards would be set for the whole country. The existence
of higher schools only in Cairo must not have seemed strange
in 1837. It is doubtful whether the centralization of educa—
tional activity and authority in Cairo seems unreasonable to
those living in the United Arab Republic now. The point, here,
is that whatever French influence may have been exerted or
diffused through a century of educational development in
Egypt, the conditions of centralized government in both
countries made their administrative procedures reciprocally
comprehensible and adaptable. Only the adoption of educational
methods compatible with centralization would obviate an up-

heaval of political institutions.

CHAPTER VI

EDUCATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF TUNISIA:

AREAS OF POSSIBLE FRENCH INFLUENCE

Administration and Organization

The structure, control and financing of education in
Tunisia are highly centralized under the State Secretariat
for National Education. The absence of any law making edu-
cation compulsory, the relatively small size of the country,
and the lack of experience with anything other than a
centralized system seem to militate against any deviation
from present practice. If there is any visible fault in
the centralization pattern, it would be in the dependence
on France for teachers and inspectors and in the need to
coordinate secondary school standards in Tunisia with those
of France. This, of course, does not imply decentralization
but it does suggest weakness in the amount of control
exercised by the central government. At such time as super-
visory functions and negotiations for staff are entirely
localized in the Tunisian capital, the system through its
ministry should be able to carry on in a manner comparable
to that of France. The duplication of French practice in

Tunisia reflects imitation in the sense that the system was

123

124
externally imposed at some time in the past by an occupying
power. In that case, the influence was direct and formal.
The present system, as a continuation of the one which emerged
during the protectorate, may be regarded as an imitation; or it
may be considered to result from cultural diffusion in that it
is now Tunisian-~not French--and in recognition of the adapta-
tions which have been made for the new republic.

The organization of Tunisian education is remarkably
similar to that of France. There are some deviations such as
reduction in program length to make the system more suitable
to Tunisian national life and to the problems arising from
independence. In both countries, pre-university schooling
lasts for about twelve years. In Tunisia, however, the
elementary school program is of six year's duration as
compared to the five-year elementary school in France. The
seven-year, two cycle, post—primary school in Tunisia has
been changed to a six-year, two cycle program.

Although the French reforms of 1958 and later were
necessitated partly'by extension of the compulsory schooling
age to sixteen, the reforms coincide with some of those
introduced into the Tunisian system where attendance is
not compulsory. The Tunisian system, however, is organized
in such a way that when compulsory schooling is introduced,
the structure will be readily adaptable to compulsion to
age twelve, thirteen, or fifteen. Similarly, although the
options are neither so numerous nor complex in Tunisia as

they are in French secondary schools, facilities are present

a.

125
to open the new channels of curriculum at such time as enroll-
ment and demand warrant the addition.

Curriculum

The curriculum of Tunisian elementary schools, relates
to the general culture. The teaching of Tunisian history and
geography is regarded by the Ministry as an innovation. Also,
one or two hours of each week are devoted to teaching of the
Koran and other religious subject matter. Perhaps the only
other distinctive feature of the Tunisian elementary curri-
culum is the study and practice of handicrafts.

Curriculum of the terminal schools in the first cycle
of the secondary level is presumably geared to local labor
needs. The curriculum of the lycees, however, is, of
necessity, akin to that of the French secondary system.
Particularly in the areas of science, mathematics, classical
and modern languages, the courses of study must continue to
be comparable to those prescribed by the French National
Ministry of Education for French 1ycees if the Tunisian
baccalaureat is to be recognized as equivalent to the French
baccalaqreat for university entrance purposes. Aside from
the body of subject matter itself, there is "a proclivity
for theoretic reasoning, memory exercizes and facility of
verbal expression."l Such practice is regarded as being

related to traditional French elite theories. When one

 

1Education in Tunisia (Washington: American Friends
of the Middle East, Inc” 1963), p. l.

126

considers that the persons presently responsible for devel-
oping and directing Tunisian education were themselves
educated in the French system it is not unreasonable to
expect that these theories will continue to figure prominently.

The continuation of French influence on curriculum
through the medium of language seems to be assured. Cer-
tainly the use of Arabic as the primary language of instruc-
tion remains a distant goal of the Tunisian Government. One
of the reasons for this is that after seventy-five years of
the French Protectorate, much of the population, while lacking
fluency in Arabic, is French-speaking. That alone has made
obstacles for the government‘s intention to make Arabic the
sole language of instruction during the first two years of
primary school. In the many French schools, of course, even
the first two years of instruction are given in French. The
remainder of the instructional program is either mixed French
and Arabic or entirely French. Current reforms are aimed at
"a mixed French-Arab elementary system with French reserved
for modern sciences; Arabic and French mixed equally where
both have a significant literature; and Arabic reserved for
law, theology, literature, religion and subjects which lie
closest to home and heart.“2

Another reason for continued French influence has to
do with the influx of French teachers. This not only compounds
the problem of a partially non-Arabic speaking people, but it

would appear to perpetuate the prdblem. Despite earlier efforts

 

2Ibid.

127
to provide concentrated Arabic teacher preparation during a
single summer session, there is a limit beyond which the
government does not want to compromise the quality of its
education. Unlike the United Arab Republic which has taken,
at times, drastic measures toward expelling foreign teachers,
Tunisia has been more cautious and modest in its planning.
Officials have often admitted their need and desire for French
teachers in order that their system may survive and expand.
Mahmud Messadi, the Minister of Education in Tunisia, was
quoted in Paris as saying that "we have committed our country
to a working bilingualism . . . . It depends on France whether
or not this is successful."3 This was clearly a reference to
the supplying of French teachers, recruited both in Tunisia
and in metropolitan France. In 1960, about one-fifth of
secondary teachers in Tunisia were French while about one-
seventh of the primary school teachers were French. In
addition, there were over 1,400 French teachers remaining
in entirely French schools in Tunisia.4 In Tunisian lycées,

French teachers outnumbered Tunisian teachers.5 In the spring

 

3The statement is from an interview with M. Messadi,
reported in Le Figaro (Paris), November 3, 1959 (passage
translated by the writer).

4Brown also reports that 42% of those pupils attending
the totally French-staffed and French-financed schools were
Tunisians, including 8,000 Muslims and 6,500 Jews as compared
to 19,600 of French national citizenship. L. C. Brown, "Tunisia:
Education, 'Cultural Unity' and the Future," Unpublished letter
from Tunis, December 1, 1960.

5L3 Monde (Paris), September 19, 1961, p. 16.

128

of 1961, before the Bizerta crisis, there were 3,300 French
teachers in Tunisia.6 In the autumn of 1961, following the
Bizerta crisis, the Tunisian government suffered a shortage
of teachers from France. Two weeks before school opened in
October, the Minister of Education declared that he not only
needed the 1,332 teachers from France who were already under
contract with the Tunisian government, but he indicated that
he could use 1,000 additional teachers to fill vacant posts.7

Franco-Tunisian relations were stabilized during the
following year but with significant consequences. In order
to retain the French teachers who made up approximately one-
fifth of the entire Tunisian teaching force, the Tunisian
government had to assure the French Teacher's Union that it
would provide education "of the same nature and quality as
in the metropolitan homeland."8 It was proposed that that
should be accomplished by the French Mission Universitaire
et Culturelle which had functioned formerly as an arm of the
French National Ministry of Education for the direction of
French education in Tunisia. The Mission was allowed to
continue its operations after 1961, but it did so as an
agent of the French Embassy in Tunis. Presumably, the work
of the Mission, in this new capacity, came under the observa-

tion of the Tunisian government. It seems to the writer that

the maintainence of a French system of education in Tunisia

 

6Ibid. 7;; Monde (Paris), September 16, 1961, p. 16.

 

8L Monde, September 19, loc. cit.

 

129
and the existence of so large a percentage of French teachers
in Tunisia would indicate continued, direct French influence.
Teacher Training

Within the method and structure of teacher training in
Tunisia, there is evidence of some innovation. Although the
training of primary school teachers has traditionally occurred
at an earlier level in Tunisia than was the practice in France,
the continuation of the scheme may be attributed, in part, to
the need for supplying teachers for a rapidly-developing system.
Primary teacher training is given during the last four years
of Tunisian secondary school. This means that the beginning
primary school teachers would, ordinarily, be seventeen or
eighteen years of age. The education secretariat, however,
places restrictions on the status and the positional advance-
ment of the very young teachers.

Primary normal schools are residential, and admission
to them is determined by competitive examination. The training
course is given in two sections, one of which is reserved for
the preparation of only Arabic-language teachers. The other
section is designed for the preparation of bilingual teachers.
Candidates who are admitted to the normal schools are com-
mitted to teach for ten years in Tunisian national schools.
Failure to meet the commitment presumably makes the candidate
liable for repaying the cost of training.9

Training of secondary teachers for both first and second

cycles is given at the University of Tunis or in the faculties
\

 

9A5 in France, there is no clear government policy in

the enforcement of the provision.

130

of France's universities. Preparatory courses at the University
of Tunis are three years in length. The training given to
prospective teachers for secondary education of the first cycle
and for those who intend to teach in terminal schools is more
along vocational lines than training for secondary teachers of
the second degree. The latter is more like the French pattern.
Students take courses in the university faculty representing
their particular interest area: and graduates are awarded the
licence. The inclusion of teacher training institutes at the
University of Tunis is a notable variation from the French
practice. While this may have come about as a result of
economic and administrative practicability, it may develop
into a distinctively non-French practice.

The French system of competitive examinations for
graduates who wish to qualify for the title of agrege still

\
applies in Tunisia. Recognition as part of theagregation

 

singles out those persons who have demonstrated the most
superior knowledge of their particular subject area. The
title brings with it higher salary and status as well as
special working privileges as it does in France. A e es
may be assigned to posts in primary teacher training institutes
or in secondary schools.

Generally, it is the writer's conclusion that the
Tunisian procedures for training teachers reflects significant
emulation of the French system. There are, however, noteworthy

innovations: or at least there are important adaptations of

the French system to the Tunisian scene.

131
Structuring an Elite

Although the machinery for structuring a Tunisian,
educated elite along French lines exists, there are some
'unique features of the Tunisian system which deserve care-
ful observation during the next generation. At first glance,
there would appear to be more opportunity for mObility within
the educational structure in Tunisia than in France. It ap-
pears to this writer, however, that there are two crucial
aspects of the present system which, if changed, might affect
the manner in which "the educated class" is determined.

The first results from the absence of any law making
education compulsory at the present time. This suggests
immediately that those children who go to school are those
whose parents can afford to buy the necessary books and
materials or who have sufficient motivation for schooling.
Even then, school attendance may well be determined by the
proximity of school and place of residence. While elementary
schools are dotted about the countryside (many of them being
one and two class schools), there were only forty-nine
secondary schools in Tunisia at the end of the 1962 school
year.10 Schools have been built in the areas with the more
dense population and with the highest rates of economic
development. In other words, the governorates which line the
northern and eastern Mediterranean coast have much higher
proportions of pupils in school than the governorates of the

interior. In 1960, 43% of all Tunisian children of school

 

10Education in Tunisia (Washington: American Friends
of the Middle East, Inc., 1963), p. 2.

132
age attended school. In the governorate of Tunis, however,
the average was about 65%. The governorates of Sfax, Sousse,
and Bizerta all had attendance averages above 50%. In contrast,
the records of such inland governorates as Beja and Kef showed
percentages under thirty. The governorates of Kasserine on
the Algerian frontier had an average primary school attendance
of 17% of those eligible.11 In spite of the relatively small
size of the country, it appears that this is another situation
in which educational opportunity is greatest in urban centers
and where the intellectual activity comes to a peak in the
capital city of a centralized country. (All institutions for
higher studies are located in Tunis.) If education becomes
compulsory, and if the state provides boarding facilities for
pupils, public examinations would likely'become the primary
screening device. If, on the other hand, the law and facilities
are not altered so as to make educational opportunity more
widespread, other social factors will remain significant in
the creation of an elite.

The other factor which merits attention has to do with
the ease of mdbility in the Tunisian education structure. At
the moment, Tunisia is concerned with producing as many com-
petent school graduates as possible. In order to fill the
gaps in teaching ranks and in industrial fields, artificial
obstacles to candidate selection have not yet been introduced.
Examinations are regarded as the major determinant for advance-

ment of those who enter the system. Students are considered

 

11Brown, loc. cit.

133
to have passed a subject if their average is above ten-twentieths;
and students may pass a grade if the average of all their
subjects is above that ratio. Also at the level of post-
secondary schooling, the preparatory courses and the pre-
liminary year of study before entrance into a university
faculty has been eliminated from the French model. This
would tend to encourage students to carry on their education
without undue delay. Under these conditions, it seems that
movement within the system is somewhat more fluid than in the
French system, due probably to the pressing need for trained
persons. Since opportunity for school attendance is not yet
universal, continued mobility is not assured.

Within the progression of studies as it relates to the
making of an elite, lygég education and the baccalaqréat still
enjoy the highest prestige and the greatest attraction value
even though there are other courses of study which last as long
as the track leading to the baccalaureat. Beyond the baccalaureat
it is quite possible that students returning to Tunisia after
study at the University of Paris (or at other French universities)
have higher status than those students who have received their
training at the University of Tunis. While loyalty to a new
national university might be admirable or even desirable,
Tunisians may yet ascribe a superior quality to education
abroad. The idea that French education is superior to Tunisian
public education was certainly fostered in the past, and it
continues in the presence of French schools in Tunisia. The

fact that French teachers who come to work in Tunisia insist

'1

134

that their children be placed in something other than Tunisian
national schools is some indication of the recognized inferiority
of the present Tunisian system. Although this may be a point
of view expressed only by French nationals, it seems likely to
be shared by some Tunisians as well.

The existence of the Tunisian national schools, side
by side with the private French schools, seems to keep the
possibility of comparison and contrast in view. Although
the private French schools are, presently, more limited in
their ability to absorb large numbers of the local community,
the attendance of many Tunisians in the French system (run
by the Mission Universitaire et Culturelle) is itself
indicative of the desirability of French training.12 While
this, in itself, is not, precisely, emulation of the French
system of education, it is a continuation of attitudes which
were developed under French guidance and training. There
is no indication of an immediate reversal or alteration of

this attitude.

 

leupra, p. 127, note 4.

CHAPTER VI I
ASSESSMENT

Recognizing that change occurs over an extended
period of time, one can best determine the nature of change
by evaluating the social or educational situation as it
appeared atjntermittent times. In reviewing the Egyptian
past from the zero-point of French contact, an educational
dichotomy becomes increasingly obvious with the progress of
history. The existence of the mosque-school system, cul-
minating at Al—Azhar, and operating, as Cragg says, as a
closed circuit,1 was counterbalanced by the formation of
a more secular system of education. Since the religious
system and the Ulgmg who directed it remained on the
fringe of society, it is the development of the secular
system which has commanded preference in this study.
Although the two systems have been nominally merged, the
act is too recent and the outcome is too uncertain to
demand more than careful Observation.

Channels of Influence
People as Transmitters.--The social critics and the

propounders of "a new way" create a line of influential

 

lKenneth Cragg, "The Modernist Movement in Egypt,"
Islam and the West, ed. Richard N. Frye (The Hague: Mouton
Co., 1957), p. 151.

135

136
events that extends from the time of Napoleon's landing at
Alexandria to the present. The prelude to the nineteenth
,century attitude may well have been expressed in the chants
attributed to the people of Cairo at Napoleon's return from

Syria:
We longed for you 0 General,
You brought light in Egypt, 2
And came in like a crystal lamp.
From Sheikh Hasan al-Attar came praise of the wide
range of knowledge of the French scholars among whom he had
worked. "Our countries must change, . . . and we must take
from Europe all the sciences which do not exist here."3 His
pupil, Tahtawi, after years of study in Paris, wrote:
Youth from the Orient, coming to schools of the West to
draw on European science, take away with them its inevi-
table corollary---the rational approach, an experimental
attitude, a sense of reality, and the impossibility of
believing in religious traditions Evidently conceived in
the absence of any critical taste.

This same Tahtawi who returned to Egypt to help shape the

structure of education in 18375 is considered by Hourani to

"articulate the ideas current among the new ruling group in

Egypt. "6

It was in the next generation of reformers that Afghani

and, more especially, Muhammad Abduh began to formulate

 

2J. M. Ahmed, The Intellectual Origins of Egyptian
Nationalism (London: Oxford University Press, 1960), p. 94.

3Ibid., p. 5.

4Albert Hourani, Arabic Thought in the Liberal AgeL
1788-1939 (London: Oxford UniVersity Press, 1962), p. 121

 

Passage translated by the writer).

5Supra, pp. 44-51

6Hourani, op. cit., p. 73.

137
their ideas of European culture and to adapt them to the
evolving, modern Islamic state.7 The educational reforms of
1868 and those of 1880 toward which Abduh worked, were to
approach realization in the lifetime of those pupils whom
he had inspired. Abduh's often-expressed ideas regarding
the formation of a popularly-supported university became
part of the thinking of the educated elite. Within three
years after Abduh's death, the first Egyptian university
was opened as well as a separate school for Shari'ah judges.
Both of the institutions were staffed by Europeans or persons
trained in Europe.

Two of the younger pupils of that period spearheaded
social and political reforms of the 1920's and 1930's. Both
men, Ahmad Lutfi al-Sayyid and Taha Husayn, pressed more in
a direction of representative democracy in which the state
authority would be checked by responsible parliaments and
cabinets. Lutfi, chiefly impressed with the ideas of the
French Enlightenment, believed in the basic good of man's
character, and in the perfectibility of character. Taha Husayn,
the first person to be awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree
from the neW'Egyptian university, was rewarded for his brilliant
work by being sent to Paris. He resumed study at the Sorbonne
where he received another doctor's degree, his thesis being
written in French.8 Husayn (sometimes called the young Azharite

from.the Sorbonne) was concerned with the quality of national

 

7Supra, p. 61.

8Charles Clarence Adams, Islam and Modernism in Egypt
(London: Oxford University Press, 1933), p. 254.

138
life. His strong belief in the power of reason and in the
necessity for Egypt's becoming a part of Europe as the only
way of attaching itself to the modern world, caused considerable
furor both in the government and among the Azhar professors.
Hourani notes that the cultural attachment to France was so
strong that neither Husayn nor his Wafdist nationalist col-
leagues took apparent notice of political ideas being expressed
in Germany and Italy during the late 1930's.9 To Dr. Husayn,
the reform of national life and the recognition of Egypt as a
re-Europeanized nation, was to be accomplished through the
study of Egyptian history. His faith in education as a means
of demonstrating that Egypt was a part of the West was coupled
with the belief that education was a "vital part in teaching
the civic virtues and creating the conditions in which a

I 0 10
democratlc government can ex1st."

At the peak of his career
he devoted most of his work to consideration of educational
reform. He wanted to make primary education both universal
and compulsory, thereby providing the basis of a democratic
state. His attitude with regard to the foreign schools was
expressed as follows:
The foreign schools are the best schools in the country,
and so long as this is so they are a form of cultural
capital. They should not be closed, but should be placed
under some control in regard to the teaching of the

national language, history and geography, and also of the
teaching of the national religion. 1

 

9Hourani, op. cit., p. 329.

lOIbid., p. 336. llIbid.

139

He favored tuition-supported secondary schools with free
places for those who were poor but clever. Teaching of the
Arabic language should be improved, he thought; and English,
French, German, and Italian languages should be taught inten-
sively after the fifth year. His campaign for the reconstitu-
tion of higher education stemmed chiefly from his desire for
financial and academic freedom for the university. The Azhar,
in Husayn's view, should be accorded the same freedom as
other institutions, at the same time recognizing the limitations
placed upon it by its spiritual function. He proposed that the
Azhar should relinquish direction of general Arabic education,
and that it should revise its own curriculum to include science
and other modern subjects which he considered to be the basis
of "real Islam" as opposed to the old idea of religious nationalism.

Not only did Taha Husayn expound his views on education
to others, but he came to occupy positions through which he
could bring about action. As advisor to the Minister of
Education, he was instrumental in founding the University of
Alexandria, of which he became the first rector. As Minister
of Education from 1950 to 1952, "he set on foot a vast ex-
pansion of State schools at all levels: new universities and
higher colleges, . . .free secondary education, a curriculum
revised along lines he had himself suggested."13

If all of the ideas expressed through the century and
a half of reform have not come to fruition under the republic,

they are at least still alive. The hopes of Tahtawi, Afghani,

 

121bid., p. 338. 13Ihid.

'-

é

140
and to some extent Abduh, for a united Muslim empire under a
single ruler who would use his power benevolently are certainly
implicit in the aspirations of President Nasser for an Arab
republic which embraces all the Islamic lands or Arab lands.14
The desire of Lutfi for the building of self-respect and
national pride are built into the present primary school
studies of Arabic history and language. The re—orientation
of Al-Azhar, attempted by Isma'il and forwarded by Taha
Husayn, has recently gained new impetus.

Aside from the more prominent scholars is the great
body of civil servants whose contacts with European schools
cannot be doubted. A survey of government organization in
the United Arab Republic shows that there are over 57,000
officials attached to ministries and organizations of the main

budget who have given more than twenty years of government

service.15 Obviously, great numbers of them must have rendered

 

14In a published speech, President Nasser says that the
responsibility for assuring the progress, consolidation and
protection of the United Arab Republic extends to all Arab
nations. The Arab nation no longer needs to prove that a
genuine unity exists among its people. Unity has surpassed
that stage and is now identified with the very existence of
Arabs. It is enough that the Arab Nation possesses unity of
language which provides the base for unity of thought and spirit.
It is enough that the Arab Nation is characterized by the unity
of history which forms unity of conscience and feeling. It is
enough that the Arab Nation enjoys the unity of hope which is
the well-Spring of unity for the future and of destiny.
Republique Arabe Unie, Department de l'Information, Projet de
la Charte (Caire: Presses de la Mondiale), p. 117.

15Luther Gulick and James K. Pollock, Government
Reorganization in the United Arab Republic, Report submitted

 

to the Central Committee for the Reorganization of the Machinery
of Government (Cairo, 1962), p. 72. (Mimeographed.)

141
their services under the conditions of the monarchy; and many
must have, likewise, received their training in French or other
European schools.

The upper echelons of government also reflect cross-
cultural contacts, often in highly positive terms. President
Nasser himself, having been in and out of more than a half-
dozen private schools in Egypt, is credited with writing an
essay for a school magazine in 1935, at which time he expressed
his praise for Voltaire and Rousseau who "paved the way for
the French Revolution."16 Nasser's predecessor, General
Neguib, says in his memoirs that “no one who visits France
and England can fail to admire the great achievements of their
respective civilizations."17 Wheelock indicates also that
some of President Nasser's present cabinet members were

18 Since the

educated in the best foreign schools of Egypt.
Suez crisis of 1956 and succeeding events, overt admiration
of Britain and France has become restrained. It is nd:likely
to have disappeared altogether.

Of the number of Egyptians who have been directly
exposed to western schooling over the last 150 years there
are essentially two groups. Whether they are involved in

government circles, in business, or in professional activities

they either received their entire schooling in foreign-type

 

16Joachim Joesten, Nasser: The Rise to Power (London:
Odham.Press, 1960), p. 65.

17Mohammed Neguib, Egypt's Destiny (London: Victor
Gollancz, Ltd., 1955), pp. 80-81.

18Keith‘Wheelock, Nasser's NeW'Egypt: A Critical
Analysis (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1960), p. 117.

142
establishments or their traditional Arabic training was
followed by studies in the West. Similarly, among the
reformers, there were those who wanted to transplant European
practices to Egypt (as in the days of Isma'il), and there
were those who merely advocated the adaptation of some areas
of western thought to Islamic society. The latter group,
those who favored the preservation of Islam in revised,
modernized form, were the same ones in whom the traditional
pattern had been inculcated prior to their western training.
The members of that group became the critics of the imitators
of Europe and particularly of the Francophiles. Outright
imitation of European, and particularly French, society was
apparently regarded with as much apprehension as adherence to
the religious viewpoint which had disassociated itself with
interest in change.

The struggle of the two "Europeanized" groups and the
ascendance of the more conservative Islamists had, in the
opinion of the writer, significance for the present regime
and the Arab community at large. The work of the Azharites
with European training has served to bolster national pride
and the feeling that national advances have, indeed, resulted
from native initiative. The elevation of national figures
such as Abduh and Zaghlul represents the more reasonable,
compromise course toward modernism. As national heroes, they
have helped to formulate national opinion. The source of
their ideas becomes obliterated by the ingenuity and the
vitality of their ideas in practice. Consequently, the re-

jection and use of foreign elements can occur simultaneously,

143
because the foreign elements have, in fact, become internalized.
Nevertheless, the matter of actually reproducing a modern,
industrialized state while preserving the unique quality of
traditional Islamic life continues to be an enigma both
outside and inside the Muslim world.
The Language of Communication

Although people and language may be, indeed, inseparable,
the means of introducing new language patterns into a society
is of particular interest in the case of Egypt.‘ The dependence
on knowledge of a foreign language at various times in recent
Egyptian history is inextricably related to exertion of external
influence.

The interest in EurOpe, aroused by Napoleon's forces,
was followed by a casual and unsystematic pursuit of French
language. Many instances are reported of tradesmen and
officials studying the French Almanac or the so-called French
sciences. The first French works by Voltaire, Rousseau, and
Montesquieu are said to have appeared in an Egyptian school
library as early as 1816.19

The sending of educational study missions to Europe
marked the beginning of a more formal penetration of foreign
language and influence into Egyptian life. Students from
Egypt, studying in France or in England had to, and did, learn
the language of those countries. The staffing of Egyptian
schools with French teachers during the period of Muhammad
Ali's military build-up similarly forced reliance on French.
Even the work of translating French works into Arabic meant

that French language had to be learned first.

 

19Hourani, op. cit., p. 54.

144

While French language had gained a position of advantage
during the first half of the nineteenth century, other languages
gained prominence in the second half of the century. After
Arabic and French, English became the next most important
language of study. Increases in numbers of foreign businesses
and foreign residents in Egypt were accompanied by a signifi-
cant rise in the number of foreign schools. The percentage of
the population of Egypt that spoke either French or English at
any given time is not exactly known. It is quite certain,
however, that knowledge of English, and especially French, was
widespread in urban areas.

While the impetus for foreign study may be considered
to have come from outside the country, the large-scale
implantation of foreign language in Egypt was accomplished
from within. Considerable attention has already been given
to the inclusion of foreign language in the contemporary
Egyptian national schools and to the foreign schools which
increased in numbers over a period of seventy years. The
government of the United Arab Republic itself reports that
in 1962 there were still nearly 92,000 students in 230 private
schools which were either run by foreign organizations or which
adopted foreign methods and prepared students for foreign
universities.20 Also, the educational missions from the

United Arab Republic to other countries have continued.

 

20United Arab Republic, Ministry of Education, Department
of Statistics, Comparative Statistics of Education (Cairo:

J

Societe Orientale de Publicite, 1961), pp. 67—69.

145

Gulick and Pollack, in their assessment of government
employees have this to say:

Fortunately for the U.A.R. the country is not lacking

in educated persons. . . . Many of the top administrators

hold doctor's degrees from recognized institutions all

over the world and the technology of public persapnel

admlnlstratlon lS W1dely applied and understood.
It seems reasonable that one of the considerations in the
selection of students for study tours abroad would be their
familiarity with the language of the country to which they
are going. Such language skill is chiefly obtained through
the public and private schools of Egypt.

It might be argued that influence through language of
a foreign country is not precisely influence by the country.
Nevertheless, mastery of a foreign language gives the student
access to the publications, advances, and ideas of the
particular country whose language he has studied. If the
emphasis on acquisition of foreign language skill continues
to be strong, one might foresee continued influence through
the medium of foreign or private non-Egyptian schools. With
enrollment in foreign schools remaining at a relatively high
level, one might also expect that the graduates of those
institutions would exert influence in the posts which they
come to occupy.
There is no doubt that language is a matter of constant

and serious concern to the Arab government. With Cairo being
the headquarters for the Arab League and being to some extent

the focal point of Afro-Asian affairs. (at least within the

Muslim community), the government frequently functions as an

 

21Gulick and Pollack, op. cit., p. 37.

146
international one with multi-lingual problems. The pro-
minence of German language in the government syllabus tends
to confirm the importance of the technician-trainee exchange
between the United Arab Republic and Germany. Egyptian
university faculties continue to offer medical and science
courses in English. Law courses are still apt to be taught
in French. As host country to thousands of students from
Asia and Africa, the United Arab Republic has been intent
upon introducing the study of more non-western languages.
This plan, however, has encountered skepticism on the part
of the university community. To abandon western languages
would be an invitation to regression in scientific programs.
Also, it is increasingly apparent that many students repre-
senting the Afro-Asian bloc can benefit most through the
medium of English or French. Ironic though it may be, the
United Arab Republic may have to bolster its English and
French teaching in order to assume African educational
leadership. That English and French are still regarded as
providing major routes to educational and cultural reference
works is implicit in the criticism of teacher college graduates
for their weakness in those language areas. Boktor reports,
however, that "Those who specialize in teaching English and
French are exceptions to this rule."22 Russian has been
introduced as a second language in some schools, but it does
not seem to be a practical choice. Russian works are not
available in many scientific areas, and their usefulness

presents further problems. Certainly the 1958 forecast that

Russian would replace French has not even begun to be true.

 

22Amir Boktor, The Development and Expansion of Education

4n J-LA 71.—44...”: 11...-1. n-_--1.1.-_ In__-_-__ 1....-.11 .._-_ n.._-__-_-__-1___ _-_- n-_-_-_

147

Although the writer has largely avoided mention of
French and English language influence in Syria, Lebanon and
North Africa except for Tunisia, these are factors surrounding
influence in Egypt which cannot be entirely overlooked.
(Appendix I gives a chronological account of French activity
in the Middle East.) Both the American and French univer—
sities have existed in Beirut for nearly a century. Both
the French and American press have been operating in Beirut
for well over a century. These actualities, along with the
French influence in Turkey and the establishment of the North
African countries as overseas departments of France are impor-
tant in the consideration of French influence in the Middle
East. French environment was prevalent throughout. Within
the business and intellectual communities, the French way of
life was a matter of fact. While there may have been some
resentment over the Mandate system which assigned Syria and
Lebanon to France and Transjordan to England, the matter of
being dominated or not being dominated by a western power
was not the question. Western civilization was simply
imposed, and Arabs could either accept the decision and hope
to rise in the social structure, or they could reject it and
remain in a condition of inferiority. As Hourani has pointed
out, Zaghul himself learned French "not because it was the
key to unlock the treasures of modern civilization but because
it was essential for the career of an ambitious public man, and

later he learned English because he had to deal with Englishmen."23

 

23 Hourani, op. cit., p. 217.

148

The need for these languages has not yet disappeared
in the Middle East. The use of French language persists
from Iran to West Africa, being most important in Lebanon
and the Maghrib. The major change in language patterns is
expressed in the desire and drive to re-instate mother tongues.
Whether this aim can be achieved along with other goals
related to modernization must yet be discovered.

Concerning French influence in the educational systems
of these two countries, the writer concludes that influence
has been both direct and indirect by nature. Direct French
influence was exerted on Egypt beginning with the invasion by
Napoleon and the establishment of the Institut d'Egypt. It
continued with the establishment of higher institutes for
Muhammed Ali and with the supplying of French teachers for
them. In the last eighty years before the founding of the
republic, French influence was reasserted through the system
of French schools in Egypt. The existence of French press
and French institutions in neighboring Syria enlarged the
opportunities for influence through the inter-relationaships
of the intellectual community. Indirect influence may be
thought of as having been transmitted through the educational
missions and the groups of private individuals who attended
school in France and who returned to assume posts in Egypt.
The writer believes that these channels of influence, however
indirect, were the major cause for present similarities between
Egyptian and European practices. Students going to Europe
were generally well steeped in Arab ways and education before

their departure. On their return they could readily adapt

I:' p,

149
their new learning to the home scene, emulating those aspects
of European civilization which they admired and which could
be suited to Egyptian life. Their admiration of western life
and technical advances was undoubtedly an important consid-
eration in their assessment of western institutions.

With regard to Tunisia, the influence is viewed as
almost entirely direct. The super-imposition of French
institutions eventually meant that young Tunisians were
educated in the same manner as they would have been in
metropolitan France. Even those youngsters who attended the
Franco-Arab schools were geared to French higher institutions
since there were no others. Furthermore, over a sustained
period of two or three generations, the French were able to
transform Tunisian society into French colonial society.
This, in the writer's view, is a major distinction from the
Egyptian experience. Sporadic contacts with two or more
countries over a long period of time has resulted in less
individual change of character for people of the United Arab
Republic. On the other hand, Tunisian contact with a single
continuing power resulted in the internalization of French
customs and procedures. Tunisians were not only French
citizens: they were apt to be indistinguishable from other
French people. That may be one reason why it is so difficult
for Tunisians and Egyptians, for example, to identify them-
selves with the same Arab cause.

Within the educational systems, there are similarities
which are more readily apparent. Although it may be argued

that similarities between the educational system of France and

150
those of the United Arab Republic and Tunisia do not prove
influence, it is the writer's contention that the colonial
territories would most reasonably emulate or modify the
systems to which they had access and which were known to
have operated successfully in their midst. In that context,
the present educational systems of Tunisia and the United
Arab Republic are rooted in the recent past. There is, in
fact, little present in their school systems which did not
exist or which was not proposed in the last eight or nine
decades. These African countries have simply accelerated
their pace toward modernism through education--a goal which
was unleashed only under more recent conditions of independence
and self-assertion.

The writer concludes that the features of the three
education systems which bear the greatest similarity are those
of administration, organization of the schools, and the means
of structuring an elite group. There is little doubt that
all three countries are characterized by a significant degree
of administrative centralism. Token efforts made toward
decentralization have not altered the authority of the
national ministries. As for organization, all three countries
aim at a relatively fixed elementary curriculum followed by
a choice of terminal education or another type of secondary
education which leads to the university or to high institutes.
In all cases, post-primary education is divided into two
distinct cycles. The second phase typically begins with
a year of general studies for academic students. The next

two years are reserved for literary or scientific specialization.

151

As for the structuring of an educated elite, this is done
basically through the selection of pupils for each new level
of study on the basis of examination results. This means of
selection or upward streaming is further reinforced by the
government's prescription of percentages of pupils who may
be admitted to each type of school at each level. Whatever
variations exist in the application of these factors may
reflect variations in economic and political circumstances
rather than long-term educational and philosophical practice.

Trends

It would probably be both evasive and true to say that
it is too early to foretell the future development of either
Tunisia or the United Arab Republic. Within the first decade,
more or less, these two republics have given evidence of some
changes from the earlier regimes. To what extent the changes
are permanent is uncertain. The conditions of independence,
nevertheless, merit attention for reasons of their present
significance as well as for their possible value as indices
of things to come.

In assessing post-independence educational develop-
ments, four seem to take decided shape as aims or emerging
trends in the two countries. These include (1) a clear
intention to re—instate Arabic as the language of the people
and institutions, (2) extension of educational opportunity,
particularly at the primary level, (3) increasing the pro-
portion of girls enrolled in national schools, and (4)

placement of educational control in secular hands.

152

Efforts toward the achievement of the first aim have
been more evident and possible in the fields of national
literature and Arab history and geography. The reliance on
English and French during certain phases of the educational
program results in some ambivalence at the level of practice,
but the desire to make Arabic the primary language of instruc-
tion has been clearly expressed by the two governments. The
energy devoted to the accomplishment of the first aim combined
with the desire to make education a major plank in the program
of national development, resulted in a decline in the quality
of education, compared to that provided by pre—independence
schools. This was due, of course, to the loss of many
foreign teachers and to a schedule calling for rapid school
building and marked increase in class attendance as means of
reaching the goals. Not only were teachers trained quickly
and inadequatiy in order to meet staff requirements for new
schools,24 but new subject matter was introduced prior to
the development of satisfactory textual materials. Neither
was there sufficient opportunity to acquaint teachers with
the new syllabuses. £3uch defects must be regarded as temporary,
and perhaps necessary, sacrifices in the interests of

republican goals.

 

24For example, enrollment in primary teacher training
in Tunisia increased by 61%.between 1953 and 1957, while
secondary enrollment increased.by 93% from 1950 to 1957.
Tunisian normal school enrollment more than trebled in the
decade beginning 1951.

153

The enrollment of a percentage of girls nearly equal
to that pertaining to boys has often been cited as one of the
major contributions of foreign schools. Both countries are
continuing to encourage training for girls, sometimes by
creating new educational opportunities for them. Although
there has been an actual decrease in the percentage of
females enrolled in some phases of the educational program
(such as in teacher training in Tunisia and in technical
secondary schools of the United Arab Republic), the total
increase is noticeable. The increased proportion of women,
even though expressed as only a small percentage, takes on
greater significance when one considers that the total
enrollment has increased by even greater numbers and that
the closure of some foreign schools has, in some instances,
reduced the incentive for female education. Figure 10
gives evidence of the added places given to girls in technical

preparatory schools in the United Arab Republic. The bulk of

the increase is accounted for in the commercial section.

 

 

1953 1962

Pupils %.Fema1e Pupils % Female
Primary 1,392,741 37.8 2,754,566 38.3
General
Preparatory 348,574 20.8 300,853 28.6
Technical
Preparatory 3,260 3.9 42,068 19.5
Technical
Secondary 18,838 18.8 74,037 14.0
General
Secondary 92,062 14.0 124,607 22.8

Figure lO.--Comparison of school enrollment by level
and type, United Arab Republic, 1953 and 1962

 

 

154

Figure 10 also points out the newer emphasis on
technical education. The strengthening of technical programs
is part of a more recent design to produce more skilled
personnel at the expense of the budget for academic education.
It is also apparent that pupils are diverted from general
preparatory courses into technical secondary schools.

This concentration on technical training seems to be
related to the practice of importing technical aides and
exporting students to other countries for further technical-
practical training. Countries which have played a major
role in this type of exchange include the Soviet Union, the
Federal Republic of Germany, and the United States of America.

The writer interprets these international involvements
as an intention on the part of the Nasser government to
identify itself with any available forces for the acceleration
to scientific modernism. In this regard, both Presidents
Nasser and Bourguiba have taken on the task of articulating
the goals of independence; and they have assumed the res-
ponsibility for interpreting, and at times creating, the
national will. Even the forces of conservatism seem to have
been drawn into a position of support for the two national
leaders.

Although the trend toward secular education was intro-
duced after contact with the French forces, it has shown a
more marked significance in recent years. The dissolution
of the:Zaytouna system in Tunis has been, in a sense, equalled

by the legislated overthrow of religious authority at Al-Azhar.

155

While the Zaytouna Mosque has lost the little authority it
had in educational matters during this century, the Azhar
could assume a vital position in the thrust for Arab modernism.
This, at least, seems to be a distinct possibility if the
state continues to enforce its laws regarding the venerable
university complex. Within the national schools, there is
a nominal recognition of the need for religious training,
but such training is no longer regarded as the major purpose
for schooling. On the other hand, there is an air of austerity
which suggests either a greater recognition of the importance
of Islamic tradition or greater attention to the ingrained
customs of the people.

As for the future direction of these two political
entities, Tunisia is faced with the problem of creating a
new national character. To do this she must apply her western
ways and westernized thought to elements which she is able to
resurrect from the more distant Arab past. The extent to
which she is successful in mating the two cultures may be of
great significance to other countries.

In assessing the movement and direction of the United
Arab Republic, one is bound to attribute to Egyptians the voice
of President Nasser. He, too, is faced with a need to reconcile
a glorious past with the quarrelsome present. At time% both
periods seem to be eclipsed by his desire for leadership of
the Arab or Afro-Asian blocs. Educational matters as well

as all other policy are affected by these drives.

156
SUMMARY

Examination of the ways in which French influence
penetrated national life of Tunisia and the United Arab Republic
reveal both similarity and differences. The training of North
Africans in France and the presence of Frenchmen in Tunisia
and Egypt provided a common opportunity for influence in
both countries. The presence of French language institutions
was also common to both. While such institutions were pri-
marily superimposed on extant Tunisian organizations, French
and Egyptian schools and other agencies operated independently
of one another. While Tunisia was nearly transformed to a
French state, the Egyptian government (under various domestic
and foreign pressures) had greater occasion for selectivity.
The difference and intensity of French influence might well
be attributed to the differing political situations. As a
result of a sustained and dominant role in Tunisia, the
French position became more secure. In the United Arab
Republic where the French played neither a dominant nor
sustained role, a greater degree of Egyptian identity has been
retained. By means of people and language, however, French

influence has penetrated both national systems.

A. D.
1798.
1822.
1826.
1830.

1836.

1853.
1856.
1857.
1859.

1866.

1869.
1873.
1874.
1875.
1876.
1881.
1882.
1918.

1920.

APPENDIX
Chronological Table
Napoleonic invasion of Egypt. First Arabic printing
press established in Cairo.
First Muslim printing press established by Muhammad Ali.
First formal educational mission from Egypt to France.

The French invade Algeria.

British steamship service extends to Egypt and Syria
(followed by France, Austria, and Italy).

French Catholic Printing House established at Beirut.
Cairo-Alexandria railroad line completed.
Cairo-Suez railroad line completed.

Suez Canal started.

Syrian Protestant College opened (American University
at Beirut).

Suez Canal opened.

Mixed Courts introduced in Egypt.

Université St. Joseph opened at Beirut.

Egypt's share in the Suez Canal purchased by England.
Anglo-French dual control established in Egypt.
French invade Tunisia.

British occupy Egypt.

End of Ottoman rule in Arab lands.

By League of Nations Mandate, Transjordan, Palestine,
and Iraq assigned to Britain: Lebanon and Syria to France.

157

1922.
1936.

1952.

1953.

1954.

1956.

1957.

158

Egyptian constitution re-defined. Fu'ad becomes king.
Anglo-Egyptian treaty recognizes Egyptian independence.

Egyptian Free Officers Group assume interim governmental
leadership by coup.

Egypt is declared a republic.

Colonel Nasser becomes premier: General Neguib is
named president.

Tunisia proclaims sovereignty and independence.

Official proclamation of the Republic of Tunisia.

SUMMARY OF LANDAU'S ACCOUNT OF ARAB ACADEMICS

Century A. D.

9th

10th

11th

Caliph Mamoun founded a special academy of translators
in Baghdad to translate the writings of Aristotle, Plato,
Euclid, Heraclitus, and Galen into Arabic. His Muslim,
Christian, and Jewish helpers were the first of many

who helped to salvage Greek thought. I

From Khwarizimi, Europe inherited the science of algebra,
the Arabic system of numerals, and the decimal system.

The Arabs discovered "zero" some three years before
the Hindus from whom they had originally borrowed their
number system.

Battani's astronomical works were in use in the West
from the twelfth century to the middle of the sixteenth
century. Battani also introduced the sine in trigonometry.

Razi, the first famous Muslim doctor and author of many
works on medicine, was the first to diagnose and describe
measles and smallpox correctly. His most important work,
in twenty—five volumes, was used.by doctors and students
throughout Europe.

Abu Zaid gave the first accounts of India and China.
Ibn Fadlan, likewise, gave the first significant account
of Bulgaria and Russia.

Ibn a1 Haythamis book on optics (Kitab a1 Manazir)
influenced scientific thought in Europe for at least

six centuries. His discussion of the way in which eyes

see, in contrast to that of Aristotle, proved to be correct.

Biruni discussed the possibility of the earth's rotation
around its own axis: and he accurately determined
latitude and longitude.

Ibn Sina's (Avicenna's) doctrines of essence and existence
provided the basis of Aquinas' and western philosophical
development. Albertus Magnus, Aquinas' teacher, was the
first to adopt the so-called "Arabian logic" which was

the logic of Aristotle as formulated by Ibn Sina.

(Aquinas was also deeply influenced by the work of

a1 Farabi, dating from the early tenth century.)

159

11th

12th

13th

14th

16th

160

Ibn Sina's Kanun, dealing with the diagnosis and
treatment of all known diseases, was the final
codification of all Greco-Arab medicine. It is

said to have formed half of the medical curriculum

in European universities during the fifteenth century.

The astronomical tables developed by Zarkali combined
with the earlier, comprehensive textbook on astronomy
by Farghani became the foundation for later European
astronomical research.

Omar Khayyam's use of analytical geometry anticipated
the geometry of Descartes.

The world atlas compiled by Idrisi is thought to have
been the best description of the world available in
medieval times.

Ibn Rushd (Averroes) translated and commented upon

many of the writings of Aristotle. The views expressed
in the works became the subject of philosophical study
at the universities in Paris, Padua, Bologna, and Venice.
Since Averroism was deemed a heresy by the Church, it
became an incentive for a scholasticism which was
intellectually independent from theology.

Abdallah Yaqut attained fame as the author of one of
the earliest geographical dictionaries.

Arab influence on western literature was expressed

'by Ibn Tufail's model for Rdbinson Crusoe, and the
Arabian Nights preceded the romantic theme in European
letters.

The Arab application of the magnetic needle in naviga—
tion is first referred to by.Awfi in 1231.

Ibn Khatib clearly affirmed the existence of contagion,
and he gave a clinical account of plague.

Hazzan al Wazzan (Leo Africanus) wrote the first
authoritative account of Africa.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

Adams, Charles Clarence. Islam and Modernism in Egypt.
London: Oxford University Press, 1933.

Ahmed, J. M. The Intellectual Origins of Egyptian Nationalism.
London: Oxford.University Press, 1960.

Artin, Yacoub. Lettres du M. Perron a M. Jules Mohl.
Cairo: 1911.

Atiyah, Edward. The Arabs. Edinburgh: R. & R. Clark Ltd., 1958.

Barbour, Nevill. A Survey of NOrth west Africa (The Maghrib).
London: Oxford University Press, 1962.

Baulin, Jacques. The Arab Role in Africa. London: Cox and
Wyman, 1962.

Boktor, Amir. The Development and Expansion of Education in
the United Arab Republic. Cairo: American University
in Cairo Press, 1963.

Bourke, Vernon J. (ed.) Selections from the Writings of St.
Thomas. New York: Washington Square Press, 1960.

Charles-Roux, F. Bonaparte, Gouverneur d'Egypte. Paris:
Plon, 1936.

Dodge, Bayard. Al-Azhar: A Millenium of Muslim Learning.
Washington: The Middle East Institute, 1961.

Elgood, P. G. Bonaparte's Adventure in Egypt. London:
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