When cyclone Gonu hit Oman and parts of the Emirates, it only reconfirmed many scientists’ views that such a ferocious storm so close to the Arabian Peninsula was yet another tidbit of evidence that the earth’s surface is getting warmer due to high carbon emissions. But in many parts of the Arab world — as in Middle America for that matter — such phenomena are often explained away as merely another example of God’s wrath on mankind. Gonu “landed” as many students in the UAE were in the middle of their final exams, but Gonu as an act of God rather than the result of petrol guzzling and an over-reliance on CFCs is probably a theory Emirati students are used to.
For there are three main taboos in local education: religion, sex, and alcohol. What religious symbols students are exposed to in their textbooks are rigorously controlled and the mere mention of Darwin’s theory of evolution is forbidden in schools because it refutes Islamic — and Christian — beliefs on the origins of man. To say that man and apes are from the same gene pool is to cross a very thick red line.
The debate surrounding sex education has made inroads in recent years, “helped” by the unavoidable topic of the dangers of unprotected sex. An awareness campaigns directed at sexually transmitted diseases, most notably AIDS, has torn down old barriers, as has the anxiety surrounding the influx of foreigners — who have to submit to an AIDS test before getting a residence permit — and the fear that Western liberal values will corrupt this still very conservative society.
Where would Western literature be without alcohol — and sex for that matter? But as much as the schools in the UAE like to teach students the Western classics, they face a constant dilemma over content. How you read Shakespeare, Twain and Steinbeck, to name a few literary giants, without mentioning booze and sex? Meanwhile, history books with illustrations of naked indigenous people such as Native Americans or South Pacific, Islanders are still blacked out by a man at the ministry with a thick marker pen before being allowed into the classrooms, while documentaries previously aired on bastions of wise broadcasting such as the National Geographic Channel, Discovery, and the BBC, all are scrutinized for religious and sexual content before deemed fit for student viewing.
One taboo which has thrown off its shackles in recent years is the notion of Israel. Twenty years ago, the mere mention of the Jewish state in the newspapers, let alone a classroom, was strictly forbidden. Israel was always referred to as “Occupied Palestine.” Today, Israel is officially on the map.
But we know all this. It has been going on for decades. What am I getting at? Well, I suppose that all this censorship doesn’t jibe with the fact that the UAE has devoted a lot of energy to importing foreign (particularly Western) culture and educational resources into its society. Recently, the Louvre decided to lend — $1.3 billion can buy most names — its name to an impressive cultural and tourist development in Abu Dhabi. It is scheduled to open in 2012 and it remains to be seen what restrictions will be imposed on an institution that has always prided itself in freedom of expression. Will the Abu Dhabi Louvre be able to show nudity, and will religious art other than Islamic art be allowed in? Many in France feel that the Louvre sold out to the Arabs.
You see, the UAE suffers from a unique phenomenon. Instead of taking two steps forward and one backward, like most countries in the developing world, the Emirates manages to take two steps forward and then jump an additional three steps ahead, sometimes so quickly that they trip over themselves. Education is the perfect example. They have set up an impressive learning environment, with the best schools, universities and the most talented professors money can buy. They have even dedicated an entire mini-city — Knowledge Village — to learning and yet what will be the net result if the hidebound taboos are still in place?
To really educate the population it is important to allow more than one train of thought to be taught and discussed. From the outside, the UAE is a model in architectural achievements, investment opportunities and free trade but when it comes to education the sad fact is that it still has work to do. Maybe the UAE should slow down a little, take a step back and look beyond their impressive skyline to what is just as important.
