It is hard to tell that this building void of pictures and colors on the walls and no playground is actually a kindergarten. In the coastal city of Hammamet, 60 kilometers southeast of Tunis, the only indication that this place might be an educational setting for small children is a sign reading: “SAY THIS IS MY PATH FOR GUIDANCE AND DIRECTION ASSOCIATION.”

It is hard to tell that this building void of pictures and colors on the walls and no playground is actually a kindergarten. In the coastal city of Hammamet, 60 kilometers southeast of Tunis, the only indication that this place might be an educational setting for small children is a sign reading: “SAY THIS IS MY PATH FOR GUIDANCE AND DIRECTION ASSOCIATION.”

The kindergarten is not on the ground floor as the law states, but on the upper floor. And while the room is tidy with a section for playing and eating, the children are not allowed to participate in music or dance activities.

Filled with faith

“SAY THIS IS MY PATH” is an example of a new Koranic approach in kindergartens, based on religious rather than secular education. Such kindergartens have emerged since the Islamic Ennahda party’s rise to power.

“These institutions are undermining childhood,” said Nabiha Kammoun, President of the National Chamber for Kindergartens. “They teach subjects beyond the mental capacity of children, oblige girls to wear hijab at a very young age, and discriminate between boys and girls,” she said.

Female teachers in Quranic kindergartens wear the hijab or head scarf and are hired after passing a written examination and a psychological test under the supervision of the Nour Al Bayan League, the public kindergartens’ governing body.

Teachers are also expected to go through frequent training programs supervised by the league, and any kindergarten supervisor should possess specific psychological, cognitive and pedagogic qualifications since “the academic degree alone is not enough,” according to the head of the association. “Every teacher must be filled with faith and familiar with the particulars of Islam,” he said.

The curriculum is basically designed to teach children how to read and write through the spelling technique, which enables them to learn how to recite the Holy Quran and how to pronounce every letter correctly, in addition to teaching them how to perform ablution, the five prescribed daily prayers and other Islamic religious rituals (manners of greeting, manners of going to mosques bedtimes praises, meal praises, etc.).

The recreational activities in Quranic kindergartens are restricted to reciting short suras, (divisions of the Quran) coloring pictures associated with Islam (the Kaaba for example), chanting religious hymns and listening to short and simplified stories about the life of the Prophet Muhammad.

“Classes are only in the mornings and for five days per week; children spend the weekend with their families,” said Lamyaa, the kindergarten principal. “We balance between education and recreation and we allow children to have fun and enjoy the things that are not provided by the kindergarten.”

Conservative upbringing

A mother says that her child is well treated at the kindergarten and has become calm and polite and he even misses the kindergarten over the weekends. “He goes to the mosques with his father regularly now,” she said.  “We are a conservative and religious family and the methods of such kindergartens are consistent with our method of upbringing.”

However, Maryam, who changed her mind about enrolling her child in this kindergarten, has a completely different opinion, especially after what she  heard and  read in newspapers about the alleged violations committed and the dangers posed by some of those kindergartens. “My child is young and needs to live a normal life like other children and I will not force her to wear hijab. I will let her decide on her own when she grows up.  As for a religious upbringing, her father and I will take care of that,” Maryam said.

Moral improvement as opposed to profit seeking

The association was originally an Islamic elementary school where children learned how to memorize the Holy Quran. Each class used to accommodate fifty children. About a year ago, however, parents insisted, according to the kindergarten’s staff, on turning the place into a Koranic kindergarten. Parents also requested teachers not spank or reprimand children but only provide religious education and put children on the right path.

“Although parents are rushing to enroll their children in our kindergarten, we only allow 15 children per class,” said the principal explaining: “Our fees are reasonable (US $13 per month) and I strongly reject the claims that we are trading in the name of religion.”

She stresses that the kindergarten objective is moral improvement, not profit seeking, especially since it is a government institution bound by regulations and with monthly salaries from the government.

“We respect children’s rights and seek to shield them from any type of fundamentalism,” she said.