School curriculum revamped

AIM IS TO ENSURE BOOKS DO NOT REFLECT BANNED MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD’S AGENDA

Kingdom aims to ensure books do not reflect banned Muslim Brotherhood’s agenda

Saudi Arabia is revamping its education curriculum to eradicate any trace of Muslim Brotherhood influence and will dismiss anyone working in the sector who sympathises with the banned group, the education minister said.

Promoting a more moderate form of Islam is one of the promises made by Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman under plans to modernise the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom.

The education ministry is working to “combat extremist ideologies by reviewing school curricula and books to ensure they do not reflect the banned Muslim Brotherhood’s agenda,” Ahmad Bin Mohammad Al Eisa said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

It would “ban such books from schools and universities and remove those who sympathise with the group or its ideology from their posts,” he added.

In September, a large Saudi public university announced it would dismiss employees suspected of ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

‘Invasion’

Earlier this month, Crown Prince Mohammad told CBS in an interview that Saudi schools have been “invaded” by elements of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been designated by Saudi Arabia as a terrorist organisation along with other militant groups such as Al Qaida and Daesh.

The young crown prince has already taken some steps to loosen Saudi Arabia’s ultra-strict social restrictions, scaling back the role of religious morality police, permitting public concerts and announcing plans to allow women to drive.

The ruling Al Saud family has always regarded Islamist groups as a major internal threat to its rule over a country where appeals to religious sentiment resonate deeply and an Al Qaida campaign a decade ago killed hundreds.

Brotherhood members fleeing repression in Egypt, Syria and Iraq half a century ago took shelter in Saudi Arabia, some taking up roles in the kingdom’s education system and helping to establish the Sahwa or “Awakening” movement, which agitated in the 1990s for democracy.

The Sahwa mostly fizzled, with some activists arrested and others coaxed into conformity, though admirers and its appeal lingered.

Earlier this month, Crown Prince Mohammad said in an interview that Saudi schools have been ‘invaded’ by elements of the Muslim Brotherhood.