Education under the Islamic State in Mosul

Education is a critical space for state powers to spread its own ideology and narrative and thereby create legitimacy for their rule. Religion, language and history have been emphasized in Middle East education systems as crucial for cementing national identity and patriotism, particularly after the rise of Arab nationalism. In a situation with state power fragmentation and rebel rule, the education is of paramount importance to the rebel group to consolidate power. At the same time, it is one of the arenas where local resistance to rebels is possible. This is partly a practical question: A rebel group relies on the existing cadre of teachers, because it is not possible to replace this overnight. In addition, it would demand a lot of resources to monitor all classrooms. This leaves a window of opportunity open for resisting the rebels’ takeover of the education. It is also a question of the resilience of the institutions and organizations in place before the arrival of the rebels. Education has had a central place in IS propaganda since the early days of its propaganda machinery. It is described as a pillar in their state, and emphazised as more important than military efforts. IS has developed a plan to change the education in a systematic and centralized way, streamlined across its territory. On paper, the IS regulations in Ninawa province are virtually identical to the system that they have tried to implement in Syria's Raqqa province. The group's education officials make a sustained effort to co-opt the local teachers, remove a number of subjects, study programs and faculties deemed unislamic, segregate women and men, develop a new curriculum, and immerse all subjects in their specific jihadi-salafi thought, including maths and sports. But how does this effort play out on the ground, in a context of civil war? Looking at Mosul, one of IS’ two main strongholds and the main laboratory for its state-building efforts, there is an observable gap between propaganda and reality. IS did indeed meet considerable local resistance in their attempt to transform the education. My paper is based on interviews with a number of teachers, education officials, and civilians who were in touch with the IS education system between June 2014 and November 2016. In addition, I have collected and analyzed IS propaganda, leaked administrative documents, and Twitter data. My main finding is that IS was taken aback by the considerable resistance the group met from the local population as it tried to raise a new generation of obedient citizens for their caliphate. Because of this resistance, combined with the civil war context and the group's lacking competence in running a modern education system, IS was forced to bring the schools and universities to a halt.