murderous machetes

In Bangladesh there is a hit list of secular and atheist bloggers. Several of them have been brutally hacked to death by the machete's of Islamic extremists. Opposing points of view. Death to the unbeliever. There seems to be an effective education system. The propaganda is changing minds. Are there lessons to be learned?

I don't know. When I taught science in the S Sudan I did not pay much attention to what went on in the Madrasas. My impression was that the curriculum was limited and there was a lot of rote learning. And there was some reading of Arabic so they could study the Koran by themselves. The Madrasas produced unthinking robots; the government schools, if they were well managed, produced thoughtful citizens for the globalising world (?)

The British blueprint for education was grafted on to the colonies. It served its purposes well and it has continued to do so after independence. It acts as a sieve which separates out those who are best suited to operate in government and corporate institutions.

Successful education results in changing minds. Schools operate on individuals five days a week for about twelve of their formative years. Other formative influences include parents, community, and the worlds of work, church and the media. These are the nurturing forces that pad out the mindbrain's natural hard wired frameworks.

There is no perfection. I have some idiosyncratic thoughts that I post on a blog. But in this cosy, corner of the cosmos this will not bring machete wielding extremists to my door – inshalla.