The Arabic School in Kissa

So in my previous blog post, I talked about the French school in Kissa.  This is the Arabic school.

Students who finish with the Arabic school are able to read the Koran in it's original language and have the chance to become an Imam (sort of a muslim priest or pastor) or a Marabout (sort of like a theologian), two of the most prestigious jobs available in Malian culture.  In addition to reading and writing in Arabic, the students also learn mathematics, using the Eastern Arabic numberals.  The school in Kissa only has very young students, those that excell here go onto a more advanced religious school in another town.

Before the French colonization, Arabic schools were the only schools in Mali.  Today, French is a much more prevalant language in almost all sectors of Malian life except for religion, and Arabic schools recieve much less funding than French schools.  Nevertheless, many parents still choose to send there children to these schools, even though this education here seems to be much less usefull than a French education, because religion plays such an important role in Malian life.