Treaty Series No. 835
The Iraq Minister in Great Britain (Jaʻfar El Askeri) to the American Ambassador in Great Britain (Dawes)
Your Excellency, I have the honour to bring to your notice a point connected with Article 2 of the Protocol attached to the Tripartite Convention between the United States of America, The United Kingdom and Iraq. Article 2 of the Protocol provides that the Government of Iraq shall not interfere in matters concerning the curriculum, such as the time-tables, discipline and purely internal administration in schools established or maintained by nationals of the United [Page 308] States of America in Iraq. The Iraq Government interpret this Article as not preventing the enforcement on the said schools of Article 28 of the Public Instruction Law of 1929 the translation of which runs:—
It is obligatory to teach the Arabic language and the history and geography of Iraq and the history of the Arabs in accordance with the programme of the Ministry of Education in all non-technical private schools both primary and secondary. The hours devoted to the Arabic language must be not less than five hours a week in primary classes and three hours a week in secondary classes.
I have therefore been instructed by my Government to inform Your Excellency that the Iraq Government consider that Article 2 of the said Protocol shall not override the provisions of Article 28 of the above mentioned Law.
I have [etc.]