A few weeks ago Mr. Abdelhadi Boutaleb visited the Arab coun-tries, among them Lebanon. The writer Miss In'am al-Saghir sought him out and obtained from him some information about the activity of the Arab woman in Morocco.

As for Mr. Boutaleb, he is a graduate of al-Qarawiyyin University in Fes, in the year 1944. He distinguished himself in its scholarly competition and began delivering lectures at that university. Later His Majesty the King of Morocco appointed him to instruct his two sons, His Highness the Crown Prince, Moulay Hassan, and the Emir Moulay Abdallah; he remained at the Royal Institute four years, during which he taught the Arabic language and the history of Islam and of the Arab Maghreb. He left the said Royal Institute when His Highness the Crown Prince completed his studies. He was afterward appointed to the Sharia Court of Appeal at the Royal Palace, but he resigned this post, preferring independent work, and today he oversees the management of "Dar al-Kitab" in al-Dar al-Baida (Casablanca), which devotes itself to publish-ing the works of Moroccans, manuscripts and modern writings alike. He also takes part in the life of the press, in politics, and in society. A work of his on the Moroccan-Andalusian vizier Lisan al-Din Ibn al-Khatib was recently printed in Egypt under the title "The Vizier of Granada."

Here is Mr. Boutaleb answering the questions put to him about Morocco in general and the Arab woman there in particular.

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Is education widespread in Morocco, and where do seekers of learning go?

There is in France an educa-tional mission that today exceeds two hundred students, all holders of the baccalaureate, distributed

among the universities of France, including the faculties of medicine, engineering, pharmacy, veterinary science, and law, the school of mines, the faculty of letters, and the higher teachers' college. Among them is a group that relies on itself and on popular efforts to continue its studies, no official scholarship having been allotted to it. Every year they return to Morocco by the dozens bearing the highest diplomas, and dozens of others who obtain the baccalaureate in Morocco take their places. This is in addition to those who specialize in Morocco itself at the Institute of Higher Studies for law and letters in the capital, Rabat. Yet despite all this, duty calls for redoubling efforts and multiplying the number of schools in proportion to the country's need, for the present schools are all too cramped to house those who wish to enter them, who number no fewer than a million boys and girls.

What is the girl's share in the educational renaissance there, and what profession does she practice after her graduation?

The girl's share in this educa-tional renaissance is no less than the boy's. The girl pursues her studies at her brother's side, and in certain schools reserved for girls she is separate from him. Girls have come to compete with boys in the various examinations and often sur-pass them. There are a number of them in the higher French univer-sities, and others at al-Qarawiyyin University; and many of them, after taking their portion of culture, turn to teaching in the free popular schools, or practice the profession of midwifery, or enter the midst of married life as worthy mistresses of households and model mothers.

To what extent does woman take part in the social renaissance?

The Moroccan woman takes an effective part in supporting the edifice of the social renaissance. To this end associations have been

founded, some comprising married ladies and others young ladies. Among the first we may mention the "Akhawat al-Safa" association, whose headquarters is in the city of Fes, with branches in the other great cities of Morocco. This active association numbers more than two thousand ladies; it collects popular subscriptions for the founding of free schools, and it in fact super-vises the great free school founded through the efforts of the men of the Shura and Independence Party in Fes, which has been named the People's School and takes in the children of the poor only.

This association renders these children assistance of various kinds. Among the young ladies' associations we may mention the "Moroccan Young Woman" associa-tion, which follows in the footsteps of "Akhawat al-Safa" and pursues its progressive social course.

The women's associations in general fight illiteracy as far as they are able, and are intent on freeing woman from reaction, stagnation, and dead traditions. In this they have succeeded to a great degree, and it gladdens us to see woman today standing as an orator in assemblies, a teacher in the schools, an editor in the press, and a participant in scholarly, social, and political life, when only ten years ago she was housebound and the victim of an unjust order.

How does public opinion regard the idea of the emancipation of woman?

The idea of the emancipation of woman meets with approval from all classes of the people. His Majesty the King encourages the women's renaissance and looks kindly upon it. Every year he invites a company of women and girls to his palace on the occasion of the Feast of the Throne, and they compete in composing poetry and delivering speeches in com-memoration of the national feast,