The education of an industrial middle class in Arab-Islamic countries

The absence of an industrial middle class in Arab Islamic countries has been, and still is, a major obstacle to national development. These countries, as is the case with others in the Third World, mostly inherited their systems of industrial education from former colonial or mandated powers, that is, from industrial nations, without taking into consideration the different social and socio-economic situation. A model is proposed here for a kind of industrial university, the Djamiat Al-Sináh. The name alludes to the Mosque as a centre of common activity, and attempts to express the cultural and social contests, and the target groups, of the institution. The model relies on social and industrial evolution, and meets the urgent need of Arab societies for an alternative to Eurocentric models. In the Djamiat, a practice-oriented education is to be provided, based on principles of professional efficiency and creativity, competence, and entrepreneurial initiative. The students are to become coordinators, organizers, technicians, and industrial trainers, as well as independent small businessmen. The model is understood as a contribution to the education of an industrial middle class and to the promotion of trade and industry.