The problem is now well established. The question is whether any solutions are in sight.
To recap the challenge: Millions of young Muslims are receiving a bad education from the public and private schools of such lands as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, one that bears scant resemblance to a modern, liberal arts curriculum in science, geography and civics, much less "critical thinking." It doesn't teach youngsters about Newton, Einstein or Jefferson, the voyages of Captain Cook, the backdrop and aftermath of the French revolution, the glories of Aztec civilization or the literature of Dickens. Rather, it's an education in religious fundamentalism and little more, except for hatred of Christians, Jews and the United States.
Much of this occurs in Islamic religious schools that have an essentially medieval curriculum, leavened by doses of modern-style "jihad" against infidels. Because public education has more-or-less collapsed in some countries, and because the "madrasas" are inexpensive or free, this is the only kind of schooling to which millions of impoverished Muslim boys (and a few girls) have access.
In other lands, the curriculum of hatred is imparted directly by government schools. The royal family of Saudi Arabia, for example, seems to have given over that country's public education system to fundamentalist religious leaders.
So long as this situation persists, the western world must expect a ceaseless flood of young recruits for terrorism in the name of Islam.
The challenge, therefore, is clear: can the western world do anything to alter the kind of education being received by these millions of young people?
It surely won't be easy. The very idea will strike some as arrogant and imperialistic. (Fancy Indonesia seeking to influence what's taught in American or Belgian schools.) The tools and resources available to us are few and weak compared with the challenge of altering the educational arrangements of other countries.
But the threat is so great that we must surely begin to think purposefully about ways to nip it in the bud. I can think of seven possible strategies. None is ideal, none is cheap, none is certain to succeed. In combination, however, they might make a difference.
First, sizable chunks of conventional foreign aid to other countries could be focused on the creation and operation of different kinds of public schools, on training or retraining their teachers, on developing curricula for them, and so forth. Foreign aid is typically inter-governmental, whether the money originates in the U.S. federal budget or in joint ventures by various donor countries. It may also come from multilateral organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, etc. The U.S. government has considerable influence over much of this, and could have more if it were clever and persistent. But recipient governments must be willing to cooperate, for such aid normally passes through them or is expended with their oversight.
Second, the United States and other western lands could apply a "tough-love" approach to their other (non-education) foreign aid to Islamic countries, as well as to such international goodies as lower tariff barriers, acceptance into trade organizations, supportive votes at the U.N., technology transfers, etc., conditioning all such beneficent acts on recipient nations' commitment to do something about their children's education.
Third, there are many ways of encouraging non-government schools in other countries via private philanthropy, international groups, and commercial opportunism. What a terrific moment for major private donors (e.g. the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations) to foster the creation of "modern" schools that would operate for free or at minimal cost to their students. Economist James Tooley has found low-budget private schools that function successfully in third-world countries for just a few dollars per child per month. There is no reason that thousands more of these could not come into being. Moreover, the western world boasts privately operated schools (e.g. Edison's) that could be exported, albeit at greater per-pupil cost. (Maybe Chris Whittle would like to establish some model schools in Islamabad, Riyadh and Kuala Lumpur.) Many Islamic countries already have international-class private schools-often founded in colonial times-for their elites. With some financial assistance, perhaps these schools might be prevailed upon to expand or clone themselves for the education of non-elites.
Fourth, the western world could develop and export low-cost textbooks, teacher manuals and other instructional materials for schools in Islamic lands, written in Arabic or other vernacular languages but containing modern content. Whether commercial or philanthropic, these could meet one of the foremost needs of any struggling education system: for high-quality content suitable for teachers and students to use. The content is crucial: we read that Palestinian youngsters, for example, are routinely taught from anti-Semitic textbooks.
Fifth, schools are not the only means of transmitting education to children today. Let's also consider the "virtual" opportunities. Though necessarily limited by access to technology, lessons could be transmitted by radio through the Voice of America (or brand-new ventures created for this purpose) or over the Internet. Today's many makers of web-based learning for American children might-especially if paid to do this by government or philanthropy-turn their attention to the adaptation and translation of such lessons for youngsters in the Muslim world.
Sixth, even as we guard our borders, we might bring more students and teachers to study in our schools and universities. (Better to learn civics and algebra than how to fly large planes!) Developing different attitudes toward the west is not, after all, just a matter of cognition. It also involves attitudes and experiences.
Finally, we can send Americans abroad to teach, run schools, advise ministries of education and suchlike, through the Peace Corps expansion that President Bush has proposed and through other governmental and private volunteer programs.
Do you have additional ideas? Please send them to the Gadfly. The problem is clear. It's time to get serious about finding some solutions.
