Page 10 - History of Arabian Mission 1926-1957

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The policy had been adopted in the early nineteen twenties, of send­
ing on American short texm teacher for a three-year period, to teach English Protests were made, and a working agreonent was arrived at, by which
and sports, take charge of the hostel, and be a counsellor and friend, espe­ the mission schools functioned as before, though now registered in the n;ui.e
cially to the older boys. The first one of these was George Gosselink, who of the Protestant Arab congregation, which has a legal status, Full assur-
became John Van Ess's successor as Principal, of the school* ances were given that no discrimination was aimed at the American schools;
mutual relationships with, the authorities were friendly and cordial, and the
school enrollment Immediately after was the highest in its history, The
In 1927 a large group of representative members of the community made
a gift to the school of a first-class laboratory, in recognition and apprecia­ working agreonent vets achieved largely through the good offices of Noori
tion of Mr. Van Ess's twenty-five years of service to the Arabs,. This was the Pasha Saeed^ many times Prime Minister of Iraq, and a firm friend of Mr. Van
first of its kind in this part of the world and Its fame spread all over Iraq. E3s throughout the yearso
In fact, the skeleton has been loaned out to our hospitals down the Gulf, for Ac a young officer in the Turkish army, he was a prisoner of war of
educational purposes!
the British io our mission hospital in Basrah at the beginning of World War I.
He vaa without money and Mr* Von Ess loaned him a gold lira (a Turkish pound).
During the favorable conditions under the mandate, the school was to "I like to feel that the
advance along the lines best suited to Its peculiar needs* The group system, He never allowed him to pay it back, for he said:
though developed independently, corresponded with the most modern theories of Prime Minister of Iraq owes me a pound I"
progressive education then being evolved in America.
Thereafter the school pursued a comparatively uneventful course-
Financial stringency, and the rapidly rising salary scale of trained staff,
The student body comprised a cross section of the community - rich,
poor, and middle class; boys from the villages as well as the town- The sons made it advisable to cut out the two upper classes of the high school-
| of the paramount sheikh of all the confederated tribes on the Euphrates, the At the time of the Palestine crisis, with the strong anti-American
Jtistefflq, were in the boarding school. Several came freza the ruling families
1 feeling in the Hear East following our government's recognition zf ,
of Kuwait and of Bahrain.
there were no demonstrations against us or our schools, either persen:—zr
officially, nor any attempt to boycott us. A few of our boys joined In a very
In 1932 Iraq was admitted to the League of Nations and the mandate was
terminated. The tide of nationalism rose, and goodwill to foreigners fell lukewarm way in token strikes and demonstrations, at the order of students
proportionately. from other schools, but these were negligible*
With the attainment of national independence, the Iraq government From the early years of World War II, a young men's club, now known as
naturally enough set up its own standards of education, with which all schools, the Royal Union Athletic Club, used for its headquarters a building on our
foreign as well as state, had to conform. In 1936, provisions were introduced mission compound. They enlarged it considerably at their own expense, with
in the conscription law exempting young men from military service only if they the understanding that It would eventually revert to the Mission. This club,
were pupils in schools, and then only if they passed the examinations scheduled which is cultural and philanthropic as well as athletic, had as its nucleus
by the Department of Education. The mission school was therefore obliged to chiefly young men who had graduated from our school, and are now in profes­
follow the government curriculum exactly. sional life, government jobs, or business. ,They maintain a night school which
uses our school buildings, and are opening two more In different parts of town.
f
Because of the superior momentum and prestige of the state schools, Several similar social and athletic clubs have branched off from this one,
sons of the well-to-do flocked to then, especially since the professions of which is now occupying very fine premises which they have built not far from
law, medicine, and teaching, and all higher government Jobs, were subsequently the Mission.
to be open only to their graduates.
Our school has its own social club center, with varying activities
As it is not the function of mission schools to parallel or to compete suited to the different seasons. The basketball court has been flood-lit and
with government institutions, the Mission decided to capitalize the nsse». • ~ is used extensively by many organizations besides our own school teams.
consecrated personality and the Christian message, and to specialize on ■
of the unprivileged classes. These fora the majority of the population and A member of a recent Educational Survey Committee from UNESCO, which
"Allowing
the state schools often had neither room nor appeal for them. Throughout the visited our school unofficially, made the following comment on it:
Near East, as In the whole East, the proletariat are becoming increasingly the use of the school playground to children of the community, and the use of
self“Conscious, and the training of constructive leadership from among them the school plants and facilities for an evening school, aside from your own
is of vital importance. use of the premises, make the school a model of whole community service which
otlier schools would do well to copy."
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In 19^0, following the example of Turkey and Iran, Iraq aimed to unify
and standardize its educational system on strict nationalistic models. A new A list of old boys compiled recently Included doctors, lawyers, teach­
law was passed forbidding all primary school pupils to attend any foreign or ers, pharmacists, dentists, merchants, oil company officials and employees,
private schools. Restrictions were also placed on the teaching of certain and many tradesmen and craftsmen. In government employ are Army and Air Force
subjects in secondary schools except by teachers directly appointed by the officers, Port Directorate officials and River Pilots; officials and clerks in
Department of Education. the Departments of Customs, Justice, Education, Agriculture, Antiquities, Rail-
ways; on the Water Board and the Date Board; the Bureau of Deeds, and the

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