ABSTRACT
The Protectorate government thought about and began to set up institutes for the education of Muslim girls before we even recognized the need for boys’ education. This indeed constituted the single most important obstacle in its path, which was surmounted by the creation of girls’ schools similar to the vocational colleges where girls are trained in weaving and sewing for the making of carpets, embroidery and plaitwork. These subjects are similar to the traditional training provided in the houses of the so-called mucallimat492 that existed before the Protectorate. In addition, however, the pupils are also taught reading and writing in French, the basics of French history, the principles of arithmetic and, finally, some geography. This is the French education part in the curriculum. As for the Arabic part, this is entrusted to teachers of traditional Qur’anic schools,493 who train the girls in the memorization of Qur’anic verses together with some exercises in reading and writing from basic study manuals. So, this form of education in these schools is more or less that of the above-mentioned vocational training, with the exception of the school in the Rue du Pacha in the capital.494 This is a primary school which prepares students for the primary school certificate, just like the primary schools for boys, added with a complementary section. One of the elements that has been added to the curriculum are classes on the Protectorate and its benefits to the administration of the country. This school is the only one to be governed directly by the Department of the Interior and is funded by the Waqf 495 Department. Briefly, we should also like to say that Arabic language teaching is virtually extinct in all primary schools, whether it be those for boys or those for girls; there is a lot of talk about it, but nothing is done in reality. Only a limited amount of time is devoted to it, whereas the methodology is flawed, as is the selection of the teachers, who only need to be trained to primary school level. As a result, classes consist of reading and writing, filling copybooks by copying texts from the blackboard or those dictated by the teacher.
