In a recent article, Bahraini liberal author Dhiya Al-Musawi, chairman of the Cultural Dialogue Center in Bahrain, wrote that the Arab world will never make progress unless it fights illiteracy by modernizing its education system.
Al-Musawi is the founder of the Human Party – a new interfaith organization which is described on its Facebook page as being open to "Muslim or non-Muslim…We don't care about the member's religion or sect. What we care about is his/her [belief] in humanity (all human being[s]), therefore, the membership in our party is not like memberships in any other parties or associations. We ask no more than our members be talented in at least one thing or one idea. Though, for the ideas to be human and serve humanity is the most important thing, be it in drawing, writing, photography, invention or any new and fruitful idea."
Following are excerpts from the article, published in the Qatari daily Al-Raya:[1]
"If You Want to Develop a Nation – Develop Its Education"
"The Arab world will never develop until it catches up with modernity and progress, and [embraces] the concept of civil society. If you want to develop a nation – develop its education. Education and scientific research are the two [engines] of change in the world, and they are the greatest challenge [facing any society]. In the Arab world today, there are 70 million citizens who are illiterate, the majority of them women. Therefore, it is not surprising that the culture of superstition and religious fantasies is so widespread, or that violence and extremism have [assumed the proportions of] a rapacious monster. Nor is it surprising that illiterates win seats in parliament while the educated fail. We in the Arab and Muslim world are now going through a stage that the Western world went through seven centuries ago.
"Here's a question: Why don't we see ministries of education in Europe sending students to study at our Arab universities, whereas the opposite does happen? Most of our universities [still have a way to go before] they match the standards of the world's model universities. Our backward education causes us to sink into [our] history and lose ourselves. We must clear the cobwebs from [our] education [system], and especially [our] religious education [system]…
"Universities are judged by [the quality of] the scientific research they produce, which is subsequently translated into practical results that contribute to the wellbeing of humanity. How much science [would we find in our] religious or government [education] institutions, if we sifted through their curricula? 30 percent? How much science is there in each course and how much nonsense? The amount [of science] is very small, because education in the Arab world, with very few exceptions, is either calcified with [deposits of] the past, or else is based on the 'copy-paste' [method].
"In 2008, there were 395 universities in the Arab world – which is a very small number compared to the number [of universities] in the developed world. [But] the problem is not the quantity so much as the quality, as well as the quality of the graduates, and their suitability to the [modern] job market. There isn't s single Arab university that is famous worldwide, or is comparable in caliber to outstanding universities [around the world] - especially in terms of scientific research.
"One should not forget that to be taught is one thing, and to be educated is another. Therefore, one should not be surprised to see a medical doctor becoming an ideologue of a violent [movement], or to find someone with a high academic degree who has a medieval mentality. Education means enlightenment, whereas learning means specialization in a given field. One day I was compelled to argue with a medical doctor who tried to persuade me that a woman should not be allowed to leave her home, not even to go to work.
"The French [psychologist] Piaget once said, criticizing the French education of his day, that it turns exceptional [pupils] into [merely] talented ones, and talented [pupils] into ordinary ones. What would he have said about our standards of education?"
"Arab or Islamic Education Turns the Genius into a Mangy Camel or Compels Him to Emigrate"
"[Another] question: What do the Arab standards of education do to the Arab genius? In our society, a genius is despised, or ends up in a mental institution. Arab or Islamic education turns the genius into a mangy camel or compels him to emigrate. The Arab education [system] should study how Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, and other [countries] instantly entered the civilized world and lost the excessive weight of backwardness and [rigid] ideological thinking…
"Eighteen percent of the world population is illiterate, and many of these [illiterates] live in the Arab and Muslim world. When education does not focus on modern challenges but on the modern state, it breeds demons and devils.
"A [third] question: Why did French society manage to overcome [dogmatic] ideological thinking? Because [French] education, once controlled by the church, changed and started to focus on French identity… If you subject education to [dogmatic] ideology, you kill it...
"[As Professor] Ahmad Zewail, [winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry], said: 'The greatest challenge for the Arabs and Muslims is education and scientific research.'"
[1] Al-Raya (Qatar), August 10, 2010.
