15 1 Entonces se acercan a Jesús algunos fariseos y escribas veni-dos de Jerusalén, y le dicen: 2«¿Por qué tus discípulos trans-

"For everything,Patience hath a remedy, but Impatience hath no remedy for anything" (34)

While internal troubles continued to prevent the Fund­

amental Law from being applied in Tripolitania,the signing of the Treaty of El-Regima between the Sayyid Mohamed el- Senusi and the Italian government on 25 October,1920

30) S e e .s u p r a .notes 23 and 24,pp.172 and 173.

\ MAI-AS,Libya(Cirenaica,1920),P o s . 1 4 1 ,Fasc.1,2 and 3* Accordo di El-Regima,Art.XIII.,Government of Cirenaica, Department of Political A ffairs,28 October,1920(proto­ col n.8205-Accord w i t h the Sayyid Mohamed,Idris El- Senusi).A Further document listed as riservatissima (highly reserved) provides a "literal translation"of the treaty,which for Article Thirteen reads*"The Italian government agrees to immediately set up primary and

secondary schools according to the needs of particular piaces,within^which will be taught both modern,-material and the Islamic religious sciences in the Arabic l ang­ uage .Regarding these schools,two will be set up at Bengasi,one at Agedabia,one at Zauia el-Beda,two at Berna,one at Tobruk,one at M arua and one at M e r g . P r i m ­ ary schools will also be set up in all the centres of the interior and along the coast,as well as in all the Senusi z a v i a s . . ..."A translator's note provides the following explanation for an ellipsis in the final sentence of the; Italian translation of the original " v erbale"* "evidently, something is missing!According to Omar Pascia,the Saied was referring to primary schools."This translator's error is not without some importance,since by it,the Senusi leader also intended the government to assume responsibility for educating those Beduin who made use of the system of Senusi z a v i a s .Thus, b y this treaty Italy also assumed charge of elementary education not m e r e l y for the coastal

zones,but also for the Cirenaican hinterland as well. 32) Ibid.

33) I b i d .

As extracted from the diplomatic memoranda accompanying the Italian draft of the Treaty of El-Regima of 25 Oct., 1920* O p . C i t .

(35) cleared the way for the establishing of the promised Parliament of Cirenaica,which met in session for the

first time on 1 April 1921.In so doing,the w a y was finally opened up for that all too brief condominium between Italy and Libya.In fulfilment of Article Thirteen of the treaty, a special educational commission was almost immediately established to prepare a suitable educational ordinance; and the Parliament of Cirenaica delegated twelve of its members to serve on i t .(36)Perhaps it should be noted that

the commission,the setting up of which was amongst the very first acts of the newly assembled parliament,seems

to have marked one of the few occasions when Arabs and

Italians actually sat down together w ith the aim of evolving a joint-programme of agreed socials action,which would be put into practice by the Italian government,at the behest of the Arab leaders and w i t h the support of the majority of the Moslem population.

The task of the commission was(in the words of Micacchi h i m s e l f )"entirely without any prece d e n t " ,for both sides were required to work out a formula embodying the principle of bilingualism yet also fully Islam i c . (37)It was moreover, equally necessary to provide space in the curriculum for the teaching of modern subjects of a so-called' secular

nature in order to cater for the need to develop the country

, 35) See,R.D,25 October,1920,N.1755(whereby, the Italian government confers the title of Emir upon the most noble Mohamed e s - S e n u s i ,along w i t h the title of Highness,and the position as Head of the autonomous oases of Augilia,Gialo,el-Giaghub and Cufra ) , B U C . ,733. 36),HAI-AS,Fondo Volpi Di Misurata(sometimes listed under

Fondo Ufficio S t u d i ),Cart.6 / 2 ,Fasc.B.1JProgetto di ordinam scolastico per i cittadini musulmani della Cirenaica.

upon modern lines.The most difficult problem,however, was as Micacchi recognised that of blending the traditional system of traditional or religious education w ith the needs of a secular system,which aimed at creating a

literate population,along with sufficient numbers trained in professional skills, besides academic training for the governing e l i t e . (38)

In attempting to w o r k out a solution to these problems, the commission was initially obliged to operate not only in terms of the general principles^ of the Fundamental Law and the Treaty of El-Regima;but also in terms of the special forms adopted by these decrees(especially of the latter)as far as education was concerned.This,said Micacchi, was the m ost difficult technical problem facing the commission,since

the method of dealing with educational issues adopted by the Fundamental L a w was quite different from that adopted by the Treaty of El-Regima,and it would be difficult to

reconcile in drawing up a n e w ordinance.Thus,whereas Article Ten of the Fundamental L a w merely stated that "elementary

education was obligatory, and secondary and high schools will be gradually e s t a b lished",the Treaty of El-Regima had

sought to express its aims in the form Of the terminology used b y the former Ottoman educational legislation.(39)

37) L'Enseiqnement aux Indigenes dans les Colonies Italiennes contains b y far the best account of the proceedings

of the commission.See,pp.510-533. 38) I b i d .

39) Ibid.Also,see A r t . 10 of the Fundamental Law of Cirenaica: R.D.31 ottobre 1919,n . 2 4 0 1 ,B.U.C.,601 ; and A r t . 13 of the Treaty of E l - R e g i m a :i n f r a ,p . 177.

In attempting to resolve these apparent contradictions, the commissioners took perhaps the only course open to them,namely to jettison all ideas based upon the approach adopted by the Fundamental L a w and the Treaty of El-Regima, since there was little possibility of reconciling the two in practical terms.Instead, they decided to evolve their own pattern which would be in part determined by Article Eleven of the Fundamental Law;but also comprise the

important grades and levels of instruction laid down by the treaty i t s elf.(40)

This pragmatic response to the situation was clearly what b o t h sides most desired,for it placed the principle of bilingualism beyond dispute,while at the same time leaving the way open for the retention of the Italo-Arab schools in substance if not in form,which as has been

shown was integral to the Italian' position in Libya.On the Arab side,it enabled them to insist upon the incorporation of the Kuttab into the base of the educational pyramid. The importance of the Kuttab had already been adequately

recognised by the Accord of Acroma,the Consultative Comm­ ittees, the Fundamental L a w and in the recent Treaty of El-Regima, as had the use of the Arabic language for all

religious subjects.Such a priority made it impossible to adhere strictly to the Ottoman form of legislation since the latter had sought to separate the religious system of education from the secular system which was developed on the western pattern.In their final form,therefore,the

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recommendations of the commissioners to the Parliament of Cirenaica adopted roughly the same schema as had been drawn up by Nallino in his proposals to the Post-War Commission of 1919.The m ain difference between the recommendations of the commissioners and the earlier Nalino proposals lay in the fact that Micacchi had

succeeded in retaining the bilingual principle and the Italo-Arab schools,which would henceforth be known simply as elementary schools.

Ifihowever,Micacchi could be said to have achieved what he had originally set out to preserve from the

1914 educational ordinance ,the A r a b side could also congratulate itself upon having developed the proposals contained in all its official dealings with the Italian government since the Accord of Acroma in 1917.The Arabic language was safeguarded in the latest sets of proposals which would be presented to a parliamentary assembly in which the majority of the delegates were Libyan nationals. But,as a result of these proposals,an educational system would be established in Cirenaica which would embody both traditional and modern aims and requirements.Only the most committed of zenophobes could regard the partial retention of the Italian language in the schools as

undesirable,for it was clearly inconceivable that Libya could advance into the twentieth century,in the circum­ stances of 1920,without learning a western language and making use of whatever skills the Italians were prepared

to impart through their teaching personnel and whoever

Indeed, now that it looked as if Italianisation had been eliminated from the syllabus or otherwise rendered

innocuous,the retention of Italian was certainly an

advantage rather than a political and cultural disadvantage, since it was necessary for the development of the country, and there is no doubt that the Parliament of Cirenaica saw the matter in such a light.

IV.The Scholastic Ordinance of Cirenaica(R.D.5 F e b . 1922