Page 520 - Records of Bahrain (6)_Neat

508 Records of Bahrain

■. zmM. FOREIGN OFFICE, S.Y/.1.
S79/199VWO) 13th June, 19M*

Zcai* Dlakc,
’’lease I'efcr to a letter (No. 323-£>) of the 6th April, from
cur Consul-General in Bushire to Sir Olaf Cai'oe, about education
in Bahrein - a cony of v/luch v;as sent to you by Peel at the India
Office.
Dundas, who, as you know, is well acquainted with the early
history of the proposed school in Balu'cin as he v/as connected with
it from its birth, has made the following comments, in v/liich I
think you nay bo interested.

The project was originally raised by Lord Lloyd Just before
the war, as part of a scheme for founding a number of "Victoria
Colleges" throughout the Arab world* The intention was to start
one school in or near Aden and another in or near the north eastern
comer of the area. Various proposals were made to the Iraqi
Government for the setting up of a branch of Victoria College in
?agdad under tho name of Foisnl College, After considerable
discussion and a rather disastrous visit to Iraq by Colonel S.F.
!.'C7/cc*nbc the Iraqis themselves started a school and tho British
Council project had therefore to be dropped, Tho Counoil then
picked out Bahrein as tho most suitable site outside Iraq in wliich
to start a school. Their idea wan to have a primary school, giving
» general education up to the age of tliirteon or fourteen, and then
two higher schools, ono tho development of the existing Bahrein
Technical College and the other to be run on normal socondary
school lines. It was hoped that in timo those schools would draw
pupils from the other Arab Sheikdoms, Saudi Arabia, and possibly
<Ycn from Persia and Iraq, and it was never intended that they should
be solely Ibr tho benefit of Bahrein. The greatest part of the
capital end running oxpensos were to be bom by the Council, but the
Shoikh of Bahrein was to have made a contribution according to his
-cans and to tho bone fits wiiich Bahrein could expect to receive
from tho schools. This is the same kind of arrangement as ono would
like to see applied to the Sheikh Othman College near
Aden, which would hope to draw its pupils not only from
tho Adon Rrotectoratc, but also from the Yemen, Saudi’ Artfaia,
Somaliland and Eritrea, while at the same time benefitting
the Colony of Adon.

From personal knowledge, Dunda3 bears out Si" Geoffrey
Prior's remarks about Belgravo in paragraph 3 of his lettex'.
Belgrave is one of tho old school and at heart docs not like
to see the Bahreinis becoming cducatod. It is very doubtful,
so long as ho is Financial Adviser, whether the Sheikh'0
expenditure on education will bo increased.
Yours sincerely,
(Sd.) A.H.B. Sohoiiold.

/< /. /. 1I1.1

■ r. l

tin Blake, Esq.,
British Council.