US embassy cable - 04MANAMA566

UNCLAS MANAMA 000566 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA/PI-CBOURGEOIS; NEA/PPD-MQUINN AND APENDLETON; 
NEA/ARN, NEA/ARP CKANESHIRO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OEXC, SCUL, KMPI, KPAO, KDEM, BA 
SUBJECT:  MEPI'S "MY ARABIC LIBRARY" GETS A GREEN LIGHT 
IN BAHRAIN 
 
REF:  MANAMA 000399 
 
1.   (U) During a third meeting about MEPI's "My Arabic 
Library" with senior Ministry of Education officials in 
Bahrain (February 22, March 16, and April 17), the 
Ministry of Education approved Bahrain's participation in 
this project. The approval comes after post's efforts to 
overcome Ministry concern and in some instances complete 
rejection of the program by some Ministry staff (see 
reftel). 
 
2. (U) On April 17, PAO, APAO, Scholastic Inc. Vice 
President Dr. Carol Sakoian and her regionally based 
colleagues Michelle Alwan and Bassem Badran met with the 
Minister of Education to present Ministry officials with 
a list of titles and 12 sample translations.  The 
Minister welcomed the visit and approved MEPI's "My 
Arabic Library." He cited the goal of promoting reading 
among Bahraini youth and the contribution that the "My 
Arabic Library" can make to this objective.  "We need to 
encourage our children to read and they need interesting 
books, so I welcome this program. Anything that gets 
children to put down their Playstation controls is a good 
thing," he stated. He acknowledged the strong cooperative 
relationship that exists between the Ministry and the 
Embassy and affirmed that the "My Arabic Library" 
initiative would further strengthen that relationship. 
 
3. (U) The Ministry will pursue implementation of the 
program with caution.  Ministry officials made clear 
their desire to inspect each translated book in detail to 
ensure cultural sensitivity of the wording, concepts, and 
pictures.  The Scholastic delegation expressed concern to 
Emboffs that this will delay getting the books into the 
classroom. However, Ministry officials have insisted that 
they will examine all the proofs in spite of the delays 
that may be caused. The Scholastic delegation agreed to 
send the remaining 28 translated proofs to the Ministry 
of Education, as they become available, for approval. 
(Comment: While visiting public schools, APAO and 
Scholastic delegation noticed pictures of boys and girls 
wearing shorts on classroom walls and in children's 
books. APAO noted, and Scholastic VP concurred, that such 
pictures would not be allowed in the translated books. 
The Ministry will be exponentially more cautious with the 
content of the Scholastic books than the content of their 
own books and classrooms.) 
 
4. (U) The Minister arranged meetings for the Scholastic 
delegation with other Ministry officials to discuss 
details and implementation of the program.  The Assistant 
Undersecretary for Curricula and Training, Director of 
Curricula, and Director of Primary Schools saw proofs of 
12 translated books.  Their initial reactions were 
positive.  They expressed pleasure with the layout, 
pictures, and topics of the books.  They also discussed 
plans for training teachers on using the new Arabic 
library. A tentative training date was scheduled for mid- 
October. 
 
FORD