US firm is hired to purge schools of Saddam's doctrine

The United States is taking the first steps towards rebuilding Iraq's creaking and highly politicised school system with a view to excising the image and doctrines of Saddam Hussein from classrooms.

A private company based in Washington DC, Creative Associates International, is preparing to deploy teams of education experts throughout the country after winning an initial contract from the US government. Its task is to prepare Iraqi primary and secondary schools for the new year starting in October. The contract, which is initially worth $2m (£1.3m), could grow to $62.6m.

But the initiative is already proving controversial. Critics and Iraqi exiles have warned America against attempting to impose its own world view.

The US Agency for International Development (USAid) has made clear its intention to ease Saddam out of the education system. The agency is coy about how far this should be taken. But it says that the pilot scheme should use "politically neutral course content", making it clear that Baath party indoctrination will be erased.

Jerrold Green, of the Centre for Middle East Public Policy at the Rand Corporation, a think-tank close to the Pentagon, said: "The challenge is going to be to reform the curriculum but avoid the temptation to inject new political content into it, like how great the US is. I hope we won't be that crude."

Some of what needs to be done is obvious. There will be no place, for instance, for the Iraqi primary school maths question that asked what you got when you added three rocket-propelled grenades to four Kalashnikov assault rifles. The answer was: "Seven ways to kill the infidel enemy."

The Thursday tradition of singing hymns of praise to Saddam while raising the national flag is also certain to be stopped. The ceremony was accompanied by senior members of staff firing a few rounds from rifles into the sky.

But USAid is fully aware of the maxim that victors get to recast history and the dangers this implies. In drawing up the contract for Creative Associates, the agency pulled back from asking it to produce new textbooks. A separate contract for textbooks will be awarded after further consultation with Iraqi groups. The agency has said it will seek bids from groups experienced in publishing secular books in Arabic.

Ellen Yount, a USAid spokeswoman, said: "Clearly, we want to remove a lot of the hatred and intolerance perpetuated through textbooks for children.We will be working closely with the Iraqi people."

The immediate task for Creative Associates will be to buy supplies and equipment to get the schools functioning by October. It will eventually consider broad curriculum reforms with the Iraqi Education Ministry. It is subcontracting tasks to educational experts from American University in Washington DC.

The extent to which Iraqi nationalism and loyalty to the Baath party was blended into school teaching was overwhelming. Zainab Suwaij, an Iraqi exile and executive director of the American Islamic Congress in Boston, said: "In Iraq, every book, every exercise has been related to Saddam Hussein and to what he was doing for the country. This will have to be changed."

USAid will also issue separate contracts for the rebuilding of schools, many of which were damaged in both this war and the 1991 conflict. Iraq had a reputation for providing its population with a good level of education but standards deteriorated after the war in 1991. Enrollment in schools is thought to have dropped from about 75 per cent in 1989 to about 53 per cent, with rates for girls even lower.