Formulation of the Claim
Modern education after independence did not end illiteracy.
Explanation
This claim indicates that the expansion of education after independence did not automatically turn into a real dissemination of knowledge or into the eradication of illiteracy. The quantitative growth of school institutions, in Arkoun’s view, is not enough if its social effect remains limited and does not deeply affect the cultural and educational structure.
This also points to a gap between the stated project of modernization and its actual results. Modern education may appear as a sign of political progress after independence, but on its own it does not guarantee overcoming the effects of cognitive backwardness or the weakness of basic formation in society.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This atom comes within Arkoun’s critique of the limits of modernization in Islamic contexts after independence, where building institutions or expanding school enrollment is not enough to establish a genuine intellectual renaissance. It aligns with his broader thesis that distinguishes between formal change in modern structures and deep change in patterns of thinking and cultural formation.
Limits of the Claim
This atom should not be taken as denying every positive effect of modern education, nor as saying that the situation remained completely unchanged after independence. The point is narrower than that: the expansion of education did not completely eliminate illiteracy.