SADIQI COLLEGE

secondary school in tunis.

Sadiqi College was founded in 1875 and 1876 by Khayr al-Din. Its curriculum, which included modern sciences and languages, was taught in Arabic and French. In an effort to modernize the college, subjects such as translation, administrative law, and Islamic jurisprudence were added to the curriculum. During the French protectorate, French replaced Arabic as the language of teaching for most subjects. In 1892 the school acquired a French director.

Sadiqi attracted few students at first, but its enrollment increased steadily. As its popularity grew, it became very selective in the choice of its students, in contrast to Zaytuna University. Sadiqi graduated seventy-eight students in 1954.

The graduates of Sadiqi usually went to France for their higher education. As a result, they were criticized by those who considered the college an institution for bourgeois children and were accused of maintaining strong links with France and its culture.

Although Sadiqi was a model for many of the Franco–Arabic schools that arose in Tunisia during the French protectorate, it was only in 1911 that its diploma was officially recognized.

see also khayr al-din; zaytuna university.

Bibliography

Abun-Nasr, M. Jamil. A History of the Maghrib. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1971.

Gordon, David. North Africa's French Legacy. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1962.

Hourani, Albert. A History of the Arab Peoples. New York: Warner Books, 1992.

aida a. bamia