Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05KUWAIT3266
2005-07-25 04:59:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kuwait
Cable title:
READING, WRITING, AND QUR'ANIC RECITATION: THE
how-toThis record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 KUWAIT 003266
SIPDIS
FOR NEA/ARPI
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/22/2015
TAGS: PTER PGOV PREL KISL SCUL KWMN KIRF PINR KU ISLAMISTS
SUBJECT: READING, WRITING, AND QUR'ANIC RECITATION: THE
ISLAMIST INFLUENCE IN KUWAIT'S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, PART II
REF: A. KUWAIT 1660
B. KUWAIT 1306
C. KUWAIT 656
D. KUWAIT 264
E. 03 KUWAIT 482
Classified By: CDA Matthew H. Tueller for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).
This is Part II of a two-part message.
The "Ikhwan Ministry"
--------------
21. (SBU) The Education Ministry, the GOK department
responsible for the religious education program and
textbooks, is perceived by many to be a bastion of
conservative Sunni ideology, mainly that of the Sunni Muslim
Brotherhood (Ikhwan Al-Muslimeen). Few question the role of
the Muslim Brotherhood in the historical development of the
educational system in Kuwait. There are disagreements,
however, over the effect of the Brotherhood's influence and
whether or not its involvement led to the promotion of
intolerance and violence.
22. (SBU) Dr. Ali Al-Tarrah, Dean of the College of Social
Sciences at Kuwait University, told PolOff that the Muslim
Brotherhood controls the Education Ministry and the Kuwait
Teacher's Association. He said that the Education Ministry
is known as the "Ikhwan Ministry," with members of the Muslim
Brotherhood are found throughout the organization. Al-Tarrah
is prone to exaggerate for effect, however, all other
academics with whom PolOff spoke agreed generally with this
assessment, although some differed on its meaning and
relevance.
23. (U) In the 1950s and early 1960s, Egyptian President
Gamal Abdel Nasser launched a campaign against members of the
Muslim Brotherhood after a 1954 assassination attempt, which
caused many members of the organization to seek refuge in
other countries. Saudi Arabia was at odds with Egypt's world
view because of President Nasser's encouragement of
revolutionary notions, visions of pan-Arab, secular
nationalism, economic socialism, and his growing relationship
with the Soviet Union. Because of this animosity between the
two nations, many members of the persecuted Muslim
Brotherhood fled Egypt to Saudi Arabia, a country that proved
tolerant of their beliefs, and also to other welcoming parts
of the Gulf, including Kuwait.
24. (SBU) Al-Hattab, a former member of the Muslim
Brotherhood, said that because the fleeing members opposed
Nasser, they were taken in and treated well, quickly assuming
posts in religious education. Before long, he explained, all
Kuwaiti religious education was guided by the ideology of the
Muslim Brotherhood, including the ideas of founder Hassan
Al-Bana and Sayyid Qutub, considered by some to be the father
of modern Islamic extremism.
25. (SBU) Al-Ajmi said the growth of conservative and
intolerant Islam in Kuwait's educational system was
symptomatic of bigger societal developments. He explained
that the problem was that the GOK, like Saudi Arabia, after
the 1979 storming of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, tried to
"outmaneuver the extremists by becoming more extreme" by
advocating state policies that gave support to conservative
and ultra-conservative Muslim groups and ideologies. Al-Ajmi
said that this has proven to be an ineffective approach and
suggested that regional governments are no longer capable of
outmaneuvering the extremists.
26. (C) Al-Rubei said that during his tenure as Education
Minister in the mid-1990s, the majority of officials in the
ministry were members of the Muslim Brotherhood. He said,
that although Muslim Brotherhood members were still
prevalent, there is a greater mix of ideological beliefs in
the ministry including some liberals, and a notable increase
in the number of Salafis. He told PolOff that the GOK was in
large part responsible for the growth of the Muslim
Brotherhood in Kuwait and said that Crown Prince Shaykh Saad
Al-Abdullah Al-Salem greatly supported their rise and agenda.
Politics Constrain GOK Role; Private Schools Threatened
-------------- --------------
27. (SBU) Within the Ministry of Education there is a board
that has great authority over the content of the curriculum.
Al-Hattab, who oversaw the board while in charge of religious
education at the Education Ministry, said the board, composed
mostly of members of the Muslim Brotherhood, opposed many of
his efforts to reform the system. He said board members
often obtained their positions based not on their expertise,
but because of their seniority in the Ministry, gained, he
said, through connections to the Muslim Brotherhood.
28. (C) After liberation during the early-to-mid 1990s,
Al-Hattab told PolOff that he began making efforts to reform
the religious curriculum and that even the media began to
support his efforts to change the system. He met with stiff
opposition, however, from the Higher Consultative Committee
for the Finalization of the Application of the Provision of
the Islamic Shari'a. This body, part of the Amiri Diwan,
asked the Education Minister to add more courses and Qur'anic
verses to the Islamic education program. The Committee told
the Education Minister that the Amir supported this program
proposal although, according to Al-Hattab, the Amir never
endorsed the decision. (Note: The Committee, which reports
directly to the Amir, was created to review Kuwait's laws to
ensure compliance with Shari'a. Its findings are provided to
the Amir and include suggestions on how to change legislation
to bring it into compliance with Islamic law. End Note.)
The Education Minister eventually succumbed to the pressure
from the Amiri Committee, and Al-Hattab's efforts to reform
the system ended. Al-Hattab, told PolOff that after his
reform effort failed, he was removed from his position.
29. (SBU) The curriculum debate now threatens to extend to
private schools, traditionally excluded from religious
education requirements. There is a move underway from
Islamists to require private schools to teach mandatory
Islamic studies and Qur'an courses. Private schools
currently do not abide by a GOK requirement to teach Islamic
religious studies to students because of an official decision
made in the 1990s by then-Education Minister Al-Rubei that
Islamic education should be "taught in public schools."
Because the ministerial decision did not mention private
schools, they were assumed to be exempt from the requirement.
Some private schools, however, provide Islamic religious
education lessons as an optional course. Salafi professor
Al-Shatti believes that religious courses should be mandated
in private schools because most of the students are Muslims
and because the teaching of the Qur'an is "essential."
30. (SBU) Al-Tarrah told PolOff that the Shari'a College is
now putting pressure on private schools to allow Shari'a
graduates to teach religious studies courses to private
school students. The graduates from the college, he
explained, are now trying to be placed into private schools
to teach Islamic Studies despite the fact that, according to
Al-Tarrah, the private schools are not interested in having
ultra-conservative Sunnis teach their students their
interpretation of Islam.
Shari'a Studies
--------------
31. (SBU) Many religious education teachers are graduates of
the conservative Sunni-Islam based Shari'a College. The
Shari'a College was initially only a department in the
Faculty of Law at Kuwait University, but has since expanded
in importance and influence. Because of its reputation for
producing ultra-conservative religious "scholars," public
discussion revived after the January shoot-outs about merging
the college into the Faculty of Law as a department. To
date, the College remains an independent academic institution.
32. (SBU) The Faculty of the Shari'a College is composed of
approximately 70 professors who teach Islamic studies at
Kuwait University and there are approximately 1,250 enrolled
students with 200-250 graduating from the program every year.
The College was created in 1981 and was modeled, according
to Shari'a professor Al-Shatti, after the Islamic University
of Medina, Saudi Arabia. Al-Shatti said the Amir sought the
help of the Egyptian Faculty of Shari'a at Al-Azhar when
developing the idea for a Kuwaiti Shari'a College. He said
Kuwaiti Islamist Ajeel Al-Nashmi developed the curriculum for
Kuwait. Al-Nashmi is former dean of the Faculty of Shari'a,
former member of the Fatwa Department at the Awqaf Ministry,
and holds vehemently anti-U.S. views.
33. (U) The College, divided into the departments of
"Fundamentals of Religion" and "Fundamentals of
Jurisprudence," began offering an MA program in 2000, and
intends to offer a Ph.D. in Islamic Law in 2006. All courses
focus on the Islamic elements of each discipline to include
topics such as sociology, psychology, and the media. He
estimated that 86 percent of the students attending the
College were Kuwaiti and the remaining 14 percent were
foreign students representing 60 nations, mostly, however,
from the GCC. He said there are no Americans studying at the
Shari'a College.
34. (C) Al-Tarrah remarked that the curriculum at the Shari'a
College was very easy, further commenting that if it were
more difficult, many of the students would leave the school.
He said that approximately 20 percent of the student body is
from the Army and that over 90 percent are Bedouins from the
rural tribes, an inherently conservative sector of society.
He said there was a pending proposal to add requirements for
foreign language proficiency and liberal arts courses.
Al-Tarrah supported this proposal, saying a more challenging,
well-rounded curricula would force many of the more
provincial and less serious students to drop out. Al-Ajmi
expressed greater concerns about the institution, describing
the College as a "haven of extremists." He mentioned that
one of the courses was entitled "The Groups that Went
Astray." He said this course, along with many others like
it, reveals the biased nature and ideology inherent in the
teaching at the College.
The GOK Acknowledges Some Need To Change
--------------
35. (U) The Education Ministry recently approved a new
educational plan for primary school students, which will
begin with the 2005 fall term. Some changes in the curricula
are expected: a new national studies program to promote
national loyalty, a life sciences course to teach students
about Kuwaiti traditions and lifestyles, and more computer
studies. The new school year will be divided into four
quarters with exams coming at the end of the second and
fourth quarters, and there is discussion of reducing the
amount of homework for primary school children. Students
will now have 35 classes per week, instead of 32, and all
students will attend school from 7:30 AM - 13:20 PM, a
slightly longer day for most.
36. (U) Dr. Mohammed Al-Musaleem, Assistant Undersecretary
for Research and Curriculum at the Ministry of Education,
speaking in July on the revised curricula, said publicly that
inculcating patriotism and an awareness of national heritage
was essential. The new curricula for all students, projected
to go into effect in the 2006-2007 school year, is expected
to reduce the number of books students use and improve the
quality of their content. He also said that computers will
be used increasingly as a teaching tool. Educational
consultant Dr. Ibrahim Karam, speaking about the books to be
used under the new program, said that most are revised, have
a new look, and are "appropriate."
37. (U) The GOK has been studying many proposals on how best
to address the problems in the curriculum, of which the
religious education debate is the most contentious part.
Prime Minister Shaykh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah appointed
chairmen, all leading academics at Kuwait University, to six
committees to examine educational reform options. Al-Tarrah
oversees the committee seeking to propose methods to
integrate elements of modernity into the societal identity.
The other committee chairmen are Dr. Abdul Reda Aseeri,
liberal professor and Chairman of the Political Science
Department; Dr. Saleh Jassem, Faculty of Education; Islamist
Dr. Abdullah Al-Shaykh, professor and Dean of the Faculty of
Higher Studies; Dr. Nabil Al-Loghani, Faculty of
Administrative Sciences; and Dr. As'ad Ismail, professor and
Dean of Admissions and Registration.
38. (SBU) Al-Tarrah told PolOff that his committee
recommended that educational reform address the whole system
and not just the religious aspects. He said the system
itself was flawed and to be successful at revising the
religious elements, the entire curricula must be changed.
His committee proposed several reforms including courses on
life skills (how to act in society),international
civilization (including human rights issues),and national
education (emphasizing a Kuwaiti national identity.) His
proposal also included more music and computer classes,
oversight of teachers, and revised approaches to disciplining
teachers. He recommended that any change be approved by the
Cabinet to ensure that future Education Ministers are not
singularly able to overturn the changes. Al-Tarrah's
committee traveled to Malaysia and Singapore to study how
other countries have integrated aspects of Islam into the
educational system.
GOK Willingness to Challenge Islamists on Reform Suspect
-------------- --------------
39. (C) Comment: Some critics have focused on the teaching of
violent interpretations of jihad to express their discontent
with Kuwait's religious education system. While this is a
topic of great concern, many opponents of the system are just
as concerned about the volume of conservative social
teachings that are spread through the schools. The reforms
suggested by the GOK do not appear to adequately address
either.
40. (C) The GOK has acknowledged a plan to reform or replace
textbooks, to de-emphasize violence, and to increase
teachings on tolerance, however, it has not engaged in any
serious public discussion on these matters. It is trying to
reform the educational system with recommendations from
academics and consultants without actually debating openly
the merits of the changes or the ills of the past. In all
public pronouncements there are few specifics given as to
what exactly has been changed outside of the addition of a
few new courses and a "new look" to some of the books. The
candid public discussions about teaching jihad and the
influence of religious conservatives following the January
shoot-outs have since waned and been replaced by GOK
statements ensuring that revised books and lessons will be
"appropriate to the context."
41. (C) Some GOK officials are aware that something needs to
change; however, the solution appears to be the one with the
smallest ripple effect and the least political resistance. It
is doubtful now whether the GOK is willing to confront the
Islamists directly on the issue of religious influence in
society, and whether, if they are, such a confrontation will
take place over the curriculum, rather than over other social
or political issues. End Comment.
*********************************************
Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/
You can also access this site through the
State Department's Classified SIPRNET website
*********************************************
TUELLER
SIPDIS
FOR NEA/ARPI
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/22/2015
TAGS: PTER PGOV PREL KISL SCUL KWMN KIRF PINR KU ISLAMISTS
SUBJECT: READING, WRITING, AND QUR'ANIC RECITATION: THE
ISLAMIST INFLUENCE IN KUWAIT'S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, PART II
REF: A. KUWAIT 1660
B. KUWAIT 1306
C. KUWAIT 656
D. KUWAIT 264
E. 03 KUWAIT 482
Classified By: CDA Matthew H. Tueller for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).
This is Part II of a two-part message.
The "Ikhwan Ministry"
--------------
21. (SBU) The Education Ministry, the GOK department
responsible for the religious education program and
textbooks, is perceived by many to be a bastion of
conservative Sunni ideology, mainly that of the Sunni Muslim
Brotherhood (Ikhwan Al-Muslimeen). Few question the role of
the Muslim Brotherhood in the historical development of the
educational system in Kuwait. There are disagreements,
however, over the effect of the Brotherhood's influence and
whether or not its involvement led to the promotion of
intolerance and violence.
22. (SBU) Dr. Ali Al-Tarrah, Dean of the College of Social
Sciences at Kuwait University, told PolOff that the Muslim
Brotherhood controls the Education Ministry and the Kuwait
Teacher's Association. He said that the Education Ministry
is known as the "Ikhwan Ministry," with members of the Muslim
Brotherhood are found throughout the organization. Al-Tarrah
is prone to exaggerate for effect, however, all other
academics with whom PolOff spoke agreed generally with this
assessment, although some differed on its meaning and
relevance.
23. (U) In the 1950s and early 1960s, Egyptian President
Gamal Abdel Nasser launched a campaign against members of the
Muslim Brotherhood after a 1954 assassination attempt, which
caused many members of the organization to seek refuge in
other countries. Saudi Arabia was at odds with Egypt's world
view because of President Nasser's encouragement of
revolutionary notions, visions of pan-Arab, secular
nationalism, economic socialism, and his growing relationship
with the Soviet Union. Because of this animosity between the
two nations, many members of the persecuted Muslim
Brotherhood fled Egypt to Saudi Arabia, a country that proved
tolerant of their beliefs, and also to other welcoming parts
of the Gulf, including Kuwait.
24. (SBU) Al-Hattab, a former member of the Muslim
Brotherhood, said that because the fleeing members opposed
Nasser, they were taken in and treated well, quickly assuming
posts in religious education. Before long, he explained, all
Kuwaiti religious education was guided by the ideology of the
Muslim Brotherhood, including the ideas of founder Hassan
Al-Bana and Sayyid Qutub, considered by some to be the father
of modern Islamic extremism.
25. (SBU) Al-Ajmi said the growth of conservative and
intolerant Islam in Kuwait's educational system was
symptomatic of bigger societal developments. He explained
that the problem was that the GOK, like Saudi Arabia, after
the 1979 storming of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, tried to
"outmaneuver the extremists by becoming more extreme" by
advocating state policies that gave support to conservative
and ultra-conservative Muslim groups and ideologies. Al-Ajmi
said that this has proven to be an ineffective approach and
suggested that regional governments are no longer capable of
outmaneuvering the extremists.
26. (C) Al-Rubei said that during his tenure as Education
Minister in the mid-1990s, the majority of officials in the
ministry were members of the Muslim Brotherhood. He said,
that although Muslim Brotherhood members were still
prevalent, there is a greater mix of ideological beliefs in
the ministry including some liberals, and a notable increase
in the number of Salafis. He told PolOff that the GOK was in
large part responsible for the growth of the Muslim
Brotherhood in Kuwait and said that Crown Prince Shaykh Saad
Al-Abdullah Al-Salem greatly supported their rise and agenda.
Politics Constrain GOK Role; Private Schools Threatened
-------------- --------------
27. (SBU) Within the Ministry of Education there is a board
that has great authority over the content of the curriculum.
Al-Hattab, who oversaw the board while in charge of religious
education at the Education Ministry, said the board, composed
mostly of members of the Muslim Brotherhood, opposed many of
his efforts to reform the system. He said board members
often obtained their positions based not on their expertise,
but because of their seniority in the Ministry, gained, he
said, through connections to the Muslim Brotherhood.
28. (C) After liberation during the early-to-mid 1990s,
Al-Hattab told PolOff that he began making efforts to reform
the religious curriculum and that even the media began to
support his efforts to change the system. He met with stiff
opposition, however, from the Higher Consultative Committee
for the Finalization of the Application of the Provision of
the Islamic Shari'a. This body, part of the Amiri Diwan,
asked the Education Minister to add more courses and Qur'anic
verses to the Islamic education program. The Committee told
the Education Minister that the Amir supported this program
proposal although, according to Al-Hattab, the Amir never
endorsed the decision. (Note: The Committee, which reports
directly to the Amir, was created to review Kuwait's laws to
ensure compliance with Shari'a. Its findings are provided to
the Amir and include suggestions on how to change legislation
to bring it into compliance with Islamic law. End Note.)
The Education Minister eventually succumbed to the pressure
from the Amiri Committee, and Al-Hattab's efforts to reform
the system ended. Al-Hattab, told PolOff that after his
reform effort failed, he was removed from his position.
29. (SBU) The curriculum debate now threatens to extend to
private schools, traditionally excluded from religious
education requirements. There is a move underway from
Islamists to require private schools to teach mandatory
Islamic studies and Qur'an courses. Private schools
currently do not abide by a GOK requirement to teach Islamic
religious studies to students because of an official decision
made in the 1990s by then-Education Minister Al-Rubei that
Islamic education should be "taught in public schools."
Because the ministerial decision did not mention private
schools, they were assumed to be exempt from the requirement.
Some private schools, however, provide Islamic religious
education lessons as an optional course. Salafi professor
Al-Shatti believes that religious courses should be mandated
in private schools because most of the students are Muslims
and because the teaching of the Qur'an is "essential."
30. (SBU) Al-Tarrah told PolOff that the Shari'a College is
now putting pressure on private schools to allow Shari'a
graduates to teach religious studies courses to private
school students. The graduates from the college, he
explained, are now trying to be placed into private schools
to teach Islamic Studies despite the fact that, according to
Al-Tarrah, the private schools are not interested in having
ultra-conservative Sunnis teach their students their
interpretation of Islam.
Shari'a Studies
--------------
31. (SBU) Many religious education teachers are graduates of
the conservative Sunni-Islam based Shari'a College. The
Shari'a College was initially only a department in the
Faculty of Law at Kuwait University, but has since expanded
in importance and influence. Because of its reputation for
producing ultra-conservative religious "scholars," public
discussion revived after the January shoot-outs about merging
the college into the Faculty of Law as a department. To
date, the College remains an independent academic institution.
32. (SBU) The Faculty of the Shari'a College is composed of
approximately 70 professors who teach Islamic studies at
Kuwait University and there are approximately 1,250 enrolled
students with 200-250 graduating from the program every year.
The College was created in 1981 and was modeled, according
to Shari'a professor Al-Shatti, after the Islamic University
of Medina, Saudi Arabia. Al-Shatti said the Amir sought the
help of the Egyptian Faculty of Shari'a at Al-Azhar when
developing the idea for a Kuwaiti Shari'a College. He said
Kuwaiti Islamist Ajeel Al-Nashmi developed the curriculum for
Kuwait. Al-Nashmi is former dean of the Faculty of Shari'a,
former member of the Fatwa Department at the Awqaf Ministry,
and holds vehemently anti-U.S. views.
33. (U) The College, divided into the departments of
"Fundamentals of Religion" and "Fundamentals of
Jurisprudence," began offering an MA program in 2000, and
intends to offer a Ph.D. in Islamic Law in 2006. All courses
focus on the Islamic elements of each discipline to include
topics such as sociology, psychology, and the media. He
estimated that 86 percent of the students attending the
College were Kuwaiti and the remaining 14 percent were
foreign students representing 60 nations, mostly, however,
from the GCC. He said there are no Americans studying at the
Shari'a College.
34. (C) Al-Tarrah remarked that the curriculum at the Shari'a
College was very easy, further commenting that if it were
more difficult, many of the students would leave the school.
He said that approximately 20 percent of the student body is
from the Army and that over 90 percent are Bedouins from the
rural tribes, an inherently conservative sector of society.
He said there was a pending proposal to add requirements for
foreign language proficiency and liberal arts courses.
Al-Tarrah supported this proposal, saying a more challenging,
well-rounded curricula would force many of the more
provincial and less serious students to drop out. Al-Ajmi
expressed greater concerns about the institution, describing
the College as a "haven of extremists." He mentioned that
one of the courses was entitled "The Groups that Went
Astray." He said this course, along with many others like
it, reveals the biased nature and ideology inherent in the
teaching at the College.
The GOK Acknowledges Some Need To Change
--------------
35. (U) The Education Ministry recently approved a new
educational plan for primary school students, which will
begin with the 2005 fall term. Some changes in the curricula
are expected: a new national studies program to promote
national loyalty, a life sciences course to teach students
about Kuwaiti traditions and lifestyles, and more computer
studies. The new school year will be divided into four
quarters with exams coming at the end of the second and
fourth quarters, and there is discussion of reducing the
amount of homework for primary school children. Students
will now have 35 classes per week, instead of 32, and all
students will attend school from 7:30 AM - 13:20 PM, a
slightly longer day for most.
36. (U) Dr. Mohammed Al-Musaleem, Assistant Undersecretary
for Research and Curriculum at the Ministry of Education,
speaking in July on the revised curricula, said publicly that
inculcating patriotism and an awareness of national heritage
was essential. The new curricula for all students, projected
to go into effect in the 2006-2007 school year, is expected
to reduce the number of books students use and improve the
quality of their content. He also said that computers will
be used increasingly as a teaching tool. Educational
consultant Dr. Ibrahim Karam, speaking about the books to be
used under the new program, said that most are revised, have
a new look, and are "appropriate."
37. (U) The GOK has been studying many proposals on how best
to address the problems in the curriculum, of which the
religious education debate is the most contentious part.
Prime Minister Shaykh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah appointed
chairmen, all leading academics at Kuwait University, to six
committees to examine educational reform options. Al-Tarrah
oversees the committee seeking to propose methods to
integrate elements of modernity into the societal identity.
The other committee chairmen are Dr. Abdul Reda Aseeri,
liberal professor and Chairman of the Political Science
Department; Dr. Saleh Jassem, Faculty of Education; Islamist
Dr. Abdullah Al-Shaykh, professor and Dean of the Faculty of
Higher Studies; Dr. Nabil Al-Loghani, Faculty of
Administrative Sciences; and Dr. As'ad Ismail, professor and
Dean of Admissions and Registration.
38. (SBU) Al-Tarrah told PolOff that his committee
recommended that educational reform address the whole system
and not just the religious aspects. He said the system
itself was flawed and to be successful at revising the
religious elements, the entire curricula must be changed.
His committee proposed several reforms including courses on
life skills (how to act in society),international
civilization (including human rights issues),and national
education (emphasizing a Kuwaiti national identity.) His
proposal also included more music and computer classes,
oversight of teachers, and revised approaches to disciplining
teachers. He recommended that any change be approved by the
Cabinet to ensure that future Education Ministers are not
singularly able to overturn the changes. Al-Tarrah's
committee traveled to Malaysia and Singapore to study how
other countries have integrated aspects of Islam into the
educational system.
GOK Willingness to Challenge Islamists on Reform Suspect
-------------- --------------
39. (C) Comment: Some critics have focused on the teaching of
violent interpretations of jihad to express their discontent
with Kuwait's religious education system. While this is a
topic of great concern, many opponents of the system are just
as concerned about the volume of conservative social
teachings that are spread through the schools. The reforms
suggested by the GOK do not appear to adequately address
either.
40. (C) The GOK has acknowledged a plan to reform or replace
textbooks, to de-emphasize violence, and to increase
teachings on tolerance, however, it has not engaged in any
serious public discussion on these matters. It is trying to
reform the educational system with recommendations from
academics and consultants without actually debating openly
the merits of the changes or the ills of the past. In all
public pronouncements there are few specifics given as to
what exactly has been changed outside of the addition of a
few new courses and a "new look" to some of the books. The
candid public discussions about teaching jihad and the
influence of religious conservatives following the January
shoot-outs have since waned and been replaced by GOK
statements ensuring that revised books and lessons will be
"appropriate to the context."
41. (C) Some GOK officials are aware that something needs to
change; however, the solution appears to be the one with the
smallest ripple effect and the least political resistance. It
is doubtful now whether the GOK is willing to confront the
Islamists directly on the issue of religious influence in
society, and whether, if they are, such a confrontation will
take place over the curriculum, rather than over other social
or political issues. End Comment.
*********************************************
Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/
You can also access this site through the
State Department's Classified SIPRNET website
*********************************************
TUELLER