Daarna werd in de jaren zeventig, toen door de staat geleide moderniseringspogingen waren mislukt en regeringen steeds repressiever waren geworden, het onderwijsbeleid doordrenkt met conservatieve, religieuze waarden – eerst om linkse oppositiegroeperingen te bestrijden, en later om op hun eigen terrein te kunnen concurreren met islamitische groeperingen.
Then, in the 1970s, after state-led modernization pushes had failed and governments had become increasingly repressive, education policies were infused with conservative, religious values – first in order to fight leftist opposition groups, and later to compete with Islamic groups on their own terrain.