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US Firm Is Hired To Purge Schools Of Saddam's Doctrine
Independent (UK) ^
| 4-22-2003
| David Usborne
Posted on 04/21/2003 4:10:04 PM PDT by blam
US firm is hired to purge schools of Saddam's doctrine
By David Usborne in New York
22 April 2003
The United States is taking the first steps towards rebuilding Iraq's creaking and highly politicised school system with a view to excising the image and doctrines of Saddam Hussein from classrooms.
A private company based in Washington DC, Creative Associates International, is preparing to deploy teams of education experts throughout the country after winning an initial contract from the US government. Its task is to prepare Iraqi primary and secondary schools for the new year starting in October. The contract, which is initially worth $2m (£1.3m), could grow to $62.6m.
But the initiative is already proving controversial. Critics and Iraqi exiles have warned America against attempting to impose its own world view.
The US Agency for International Development (USAid) has made clear its intention to ease Saddam out of the education system. The agency is coy about how far this should be taken. But it says that the pilot scheme should use "politically neutral course content", making it clear that Baath party indoctrination will be erased.
Jerrold Green, of the Centre for Middle East Public Policy at the Rand Corporation, a think-tank close to the Pentagon, said: "The challenge is going to be to reform the curriculum but avoid the temptation to inject new political content into it, like how great the US is. I hope we won't be that crude."
Some of what needs to be done is obvious. There will be no place, for instance, for the Iraqi primary school maths question that asked what you got when you added three rocket-propelled grenades to four Kalashnikov assault rifles. The answer was: "Seven ways to kill the infidel enemy."
The Thursday tradition of singing hymns of praise to Saddam while raising the national flag is also certain to be stopped. The ceremony was accompanied by senior members of staff firing a few rounds from rifles into the sky.
But USAid is fully aware of the maxim that victors get to recast history and the dangers this implies. In drawing up the contract for Creative Associates, the agency pulled back from asking it to produce new textbooks. A separate contract for textbooks will be awarded after further consultation with Iraqi groups. The agency has said it will seek bids from groups experienced in publishing secular books in Arabic.
Ellen Yount, a USAid spokeswoman, said: "Clearly, we want to remove a lot of the hatred and intolerance perpetuated through textbooks for children.We will be working closely with the Iraqi people."
The immediate task for Creative Associates will be to buy supplies and equipment to get the schools functioning by October. It will eventually consider broad curriculum reforms with the Iraqi Education Ministry. It is subcontracting tasks to educational experts from American University in Washington DC.
The extent to which Iraqi nationalism and loyalty to the Baath party was blended into school teaching was overwhelming. Zainab Suwaij, an Iraqi exile and executive director of the American Islamic Congress in Boston, said: "In Iraq, every book, every exercise has been related to Saddam Hussein and to what he was doing for the country. This will have to be changed."
USAid will also issue separate contracts for the rebuilding of schools, many of which were damaged in both this war and the 1991 conflict. Iraq had a reputation for providing its population with a good level of education but standards deteriorated after the war in 1991. Enrollment in schools is thought to have dropped from about 75 per cent in 1989 to about 53 per cent, with rates for girls even lower.
TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: contracts; creativeassociates; curriculum; doctrine; education; firms; hired; iraqifreedom; postwariarq; purge; saddam; schools; us; usaid
1
posted on
04/21/2003 4:10:05 PM PDT
by
blam
To: blam
And when they're done in Iraq, they can come back here and purge US schools of NEA propaganda.
2
posted on
04/21/2003 4:12:00 PM PDT
by
My2Cents
("Well....there you go again.")
To: blam
If these people get good at this they can come to California and purge the school system of the madatory Islamic education in public schools.
Of course they won't be able to rid us of Marxism because there are just too many commie lovers out here.
3
posted on
04/21/2003 4:15:50 PM PDT
by
BeAllYouCanBe
(Maybe this "Army Of One" is a good thing - You Gotta Admire the 3rd Infantry Accomplishments)
To: blam
http://www.caii.net/News/Iraq_news.htm Creative Associates to Help Rebuild Iraq Education Sector
Contact:
Stephen Horblitt
202-572-1326
SteveH@caii-dc.com Robert Gordon
202-966-4367
RobertG@caii-dc.com Fadi Riachi, Beirut
+961-3-745577
Caii-bey@dm.net.lb Washington, DC (April 14, 2003) The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded Creative Associates International, Inc. (CAII) the Revitalization of Iraqi Schools and Stabilization of Education (RISE) Project, which will seek to mend more than a decade of neglect to Iraqs education sector.
Creative Associates will lead an alliance of partners on the RISE Project which aims to provide rapid distribution of school materials, equipment, and supplies in Iraq. Education reform efforts will underscore accelerated learning and enhanced teacher and school capacity, breathing life into an education system that was once among the strongest in the Middle East.
Rapid assessment processes will be initiated immediately to meet the educational systems most pressing needs. Iraqi NGO partners will be trained to guide local data collectors that will help establish targets for rapid distribution of materials. The American Manufacturers Export Group (AMEG), will lead procurement efforts.
Accelerated learning pilot projects will be launched in five counties to address girls education, the needs of overage pupils, and out-of-school youth. US-based Iraqi NGO partners bring a wealth of local knowledge and will help provide basic services, with an eye to reaching especially needy rural areas.
The CAII team has responsibility for primary and secondary teacher training efforts that aim to allow local teachers- as mentors and trainers- to assume the leadership of the teacher training process in Iraq.
Locally-driven democracy and education projects in Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco, and Afghanistan, provide Creative Associates with a broad understanding of educational reform and of the challenges of post-conflict development.
More than 390,000 citizens in 143 villages in Lebanon and Jordan have benefited from BRIDGES, a community reconstruction and revitalization approach that places citizens at the helm in realizing priority infrastructural, economic and environmental needs. No project is carried out if community consensus is not attainable. Working through community clusters in both countries, projects focus unequivocally on the processes that build effective self-governance at the local level.
In Morocco, the USAID-funded Morocco Education for Girls (MEG) Project is impacting the access, enrollment, and retention of girls in rural primary schools. Creative Associates is working with the Ministry of Education to promote education system reform in pilot provinces and at the national level.
Through its Basic Education Policy Support (BEPS) Activity, in Sierra Leone, Burundi, Sudan and Kenya, CAII has helped post-conflict societies examine educations role in the demobilization and reintegration of child soldiers and in addressing the education needs of refugee communities.
Under the USAID-funded Afghanistan Primary Education Program (APEP), by late May, more than 10 million new text books will have been produced and transported to Afghanistan by Creative Associates International. In collaboration with its partners, it is designing and implementing an accelerated learning program for overage students in Afghanistan and using radio as a tool to enhance the skills of teachers. CAII has also been closely involved in the development of a new curriculum framework.
Creative Associates is a minority women-owned professional services firm incepted in 1977. Participation, diversity, and equity have driven projects seeking to improve the lives of underserved populations in more than 68 countries to date.
ENDS-
To: blam
So what do we know about Creative Associates International?
Educational types always make me nervous!
5
posted on
04/21/2003 4:18:37 PM PDT
by
Brian S
(YOU'RE IT!)
To: My2Cents
"Clearly, we want to remove a lot of the hatred and intolerance perpetuated through textbooks for children."
Yep, just substitute Republican for your previously hated group and the kiddies will be in-step with the best US schools. (And those in France and Germany too!!)
6
posted on
04/21/2003 4:19:49 PM PDT
by
BeAllYouCanBe
(Maybe this "Army Of One" is a good thing - You Gotta Admire the 3rd Infantry Accomplishments)
To: blam
Just so long as they don't translate "Heather Has Two Mommies" into Arabic...
7
posted on
04/21/2003 4:21:52 PM PDT
by
Redcloak
(All work and no FReep makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no FReep make s Jack a dul boy. Allwork an)
To: Brian Mosely
"Creative Associates is a minority women-owned professional services firm incepted in 1977."
I'm glad that they gave us this vital information -- I mean what possible use could a white male owned company be?
8
posted on
04/21/2003 4:24:01 PM PDT
by
BeAllYouCanBe
(Maybe this "Army Of One" is a good thing - You Gotta Admire the 3rd Infantry Accomplishments)
To: blam
"Creative Associates International," indeed. Its initials are CAI -- very funny theater from our friends in Langley....
9
posted on
04/21/2003 4:24:14 PM PDT
by
tracer
(/b>)
To: Brian S
To: blam
Interesting implications!
11
posted on
04/21/2003 4:25:25 PM PDT
by
AEMILIUS PAULUS
(Further, the statement assumed)
To: BeAllYouCanBe
In Saddam's Iraq, hatred and intolerance really meant something.
12
posted on
04/21/2003 4:27:51 PM PDT
by
My2Cents
("Well....there you go again.")
To: tracer
Sort of the Air America of the educational world? ;-)
To: blam
... is preparing to deploy teams of education experts ...
Way to make them nostalgic for Saddam.
14
posted on
04/21/2003 4:34:11 PM PDT
by
Asclepius
(to the barricades)
To: SubMareener
This contractor has come back in the manner of the mythical Phoenix.....
15
posted on
04/21/2003 4:36:25 PM PDT
by
tracer
(/b>)
To: SubMareener
The next thing you know they will be putting Coke machines in all the schools, along with commercial advertising touting fast food and clothing items from mailorder catalogs....
To: My2Cents
Beat me to it.
17
posted on
04/21/2003 6:03:51 PM PDT
by
HIDEK6
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