The Lebanese woman will not stand before the tragedy of the official examinations idle and heedless. Nor will His Excellency the Minister of Education stand negligent and careless before what we have called the catas-trophe of secondary education, because, good man though he is, he has devoted himself entirely to the problem of instruction, has looked into every matter small and great, and has not — God be praised — regarded the ministry as a political post.

The results of the examinations, in both sessions, were appalling to the schools, the families, and the students alike. And now the October session closes with these results:

The baccalaureate: candidates for the scientific section 245, passing 50. Candidates for the literary section 296, passing 48. The complementary section (Brevet): number of candidates 303, pass-ing 50.

These are figures that need no comment!! The correspondent of "The Woman's Voice" — whose mission, first and last, is study and then guidance — makes her rounds among the passing students and the failing ones, among the teachers and the members of the examination committee; and here, for the readers, is this reportage. May it yield some good.

An Hour in the World of the White Imps

When I entered the UNESCO building I saw a number of young women and young men who had come either to sit the oral examination after passing the written, or to keep company and radiate good cheer. They gath-ered around me sociably. I said:

— The girls among you remind me of the tale of the white imps.

The girls and the boys said: And what is the tale of the white imps?

I said:

— It is told that a king followed his fancy and did not govern his subjects well, and found himself at a loss when he saw his great kingdom collapsing day after day. One day a counselor came to him, relating what is written in the book of Kalila wa-Dimna: that the banes of the sultan are six, and one of them is women... So he made up his mind and mended his ways as best he could... And he resolved to spare his heir apparent — who was still in the cradle

The administration of one of Beirut's schools put a number of questions to the new boy and girl students in the entrance examinations, as is the custom. Among the questions was this one: What is the meaning of the word "nub"? The answer was almost unanimous: the "nub" are the deputies in the Chamber of Deputies.

— the temptation of women and their mischief. He carried him off to the top of a distant mountain and forbade the guards to admit women or to speak of women. He went even further, and removed from his son every female among the animals and the birds, wild or tame.

The crown prince came of age, and his father took him to the city and brought him down to the market to show him the curiosities and marvels of the world. While they were going about, along came a flock of girls, laughing and jesting or bantering with the shopkeepers, and the crown prince asked his father:

— What are these, father?

— These are a species of God's creatures called the white imps.

When the king returned to his palace he asked his crown prince:

— What pleased you most among the things you saw today, and what curiosity would you like me to buy you? Ask for whatever you wish.

The youth cried out with joy:

— Father! I want nothing but a white imp!!

And the flock of young women and men at UNESCO laughed. And the girls began discussing with me the causes of passing and failing, with a lightness of spirit mixed with a great deal of earnestness.

Here is Miss Suad Abboud, a pupil of one of the private schools, who failed in the June session and passed in the October session.

— What was the cause of your failure?

— Shall I say? I will say it in all frankness... I studied four years after the elementary certificate — and I do not think I am among the dullards of my class. The cause of my failure is this radio. The examination was held at the Burj Abi Haidar school. The weather was hot, and all the doors and the windows and the neighbors' radios were open on every hinge! And such a blaze and such a din! I could not do a single arithmetic problem, so I failed. Today the examination was held at UNESCO — oh, that blessed quiet! — and I passed. A classmate of hers cut in:

— You failed because of the radio and passed because of the atmosphere at UNESCO?? And those long hours you took away from your study hours for the game of "basketball"?

And a relative of hers put in:

— And the arithmetic lessons you took from me over the summer — don't they count?

The conversation is cut short by a student who shoots past like an arrow behind a relative of his, one of the people of standing and influence. I addressed him gently so that he might give me a statement, but he answered peevishly that he "did not want to speak to anyone,"