Le scuole missionarie viste da una funzionaria del Ministero dell'Educazione sudanese

Ina Beasley

Tratto da: Beasley, Ina Before the wind changed. People, places and education in the Sudan, edited by  Janet Starkey, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1992, pp. 437-439.

St. Joseph’s School, Khartoum

"1. Neat, orderly and this particular morning discipline seemed excellent and I don’t think the girls were subdued.
2. Certain amount of show kept for visitors
eg. Drill - a few exercises learnt off by heart and repeated by rote.
Sewing - shown a few pieces of good embroidery of Victorian type.
[Art] - excrucable paintings - copies of particularly uneducational postcards for the most part. No imagination.
Singing - extremely bad singing, just learning by heart - was not shown a singing lesson in progress, merely bad results in Italian, French and English.

Syllabus seemed reasonable. No opportunity of judging how far instruction kept to syllabus. The books in use, apart from a deplorable effort on religious instruction, were comparatively well chosen e.g. Piers Plowman Series for History. French also looked a trifle old-fashioned.
A round of the classes in progress suggested that there was much reading out of books but not a great deal of explanation or questioning. This probably due to fact that much of instruction in English and teachers’ proficiency possibly inadequate.
Apparent difficulties of polyglot instructions did not appear to worry the Mother Superior when asked about it. So many languages among staff and pupils that probably always an interpreter at hand. Sisters seemed to converse in a blend of English, French and Italian.
In History, French and Religious Instruction (English) girls were simply reading aloud. A certain glibness but accuracy doubtful. Should imagine results somewhat superficial. Too much work of copying variety. Dressmaking exercise books showed neat results but identical notes and patterns. Results in one or two garments shown good as far as execution was concerned, standard of tase open to criticism.
The three girls in examination class talked intelligently and were bright and interested. Probably provide good material for exam results.

Kindergarten seemed to be badly run. Did not see any apparatus of normal type. Children were just sitting in desks but many were merely scribbling on slates and unable to understand the making of English letters which a few were attempting. A little rather dull paperwork was produced but doubtful if the children found the routine anything but dreary.
I feel it quite right and natural that is should be thought proper for me to see the school at its best but the mere fact that I had this feeling of best behavior made me wonder how different a normal day would be. I realize that a prejudice against the whole system may have influenced me. Possible that it is a solution of the education problem for the odd bits of communities in a place like this but not perhaps a very happy one".

Wad Nubawi School

"Went with Sitt Negiba to visit Wad Nubawi School. On the way stopped at Siddiq Aissa School to leave a mistress. A very small building tucked away in a back street. The rooms were abominably overcrowded, and there was little space outside for the children to play. Did not stay to watch the teaching but under those conditions any teaching must be difficult. Only advantage of a mud hut with earth floors that probably a number of the children live in such and it is possible to inculcate tidy habits in this place, they might be really useful.
The Wad Noubawi School was a larger mud building and with a bigger yard. Not quite so compressed and obviously unhealthy but really fit for condemnation... Possible this may have had an effect on the school but the sloppy atmosphere could not be attributed entirely to that except that the better teachers would doubtless prefer to go elsewhere if possible.
Should be inclined to ascribe much of the slackness to the headmistress. Must remember that it is unfair to judge on such a slight data but she did not make a favorable impression. She was very ornate and had a face like a painting from an Egyptian tomb. The other teachers seemed lazy also. Speaking in soft voices was carried to the length of not so much as arousing the children.
There was a lack of order about the usual disposition of things, changing of classes and giving out of books. The lessons were conducted in a slack way. The children, according to Negiba, did not understand many of the words in their reading books. Some of the books were neat... most striking thing to me the way in which the children in the first class answered up brightly but other classes deteriorated until the top classes just muttered. Were capable of standing up and going on reading so that no-one could hear, the teacher doing something else and most of the rest of che class reading to themselves.
Standard of handwork low. Too much copying apparent in the drawing books. Clay modelling might possibly have been made more use of. I thought it rather poor that the first class should sit and pull wool for stuffing cushions throughout a whole lesson. Again the native embroidery was good and needlework on the whole was neat. The headmistress insisted on showing me piles of it. The whole place wanted pulling together and even with the unfavorable surroundings something a little more vigorous would have been possible".