Education is a very important element in Moslem society and in the Islamization of Africa, especially the teachings of the Koran. Instruction in religious matters has a spiritual as well as practical function, providing guidelines for everyday life. A student who practices writing on a long board, such as this one, is engaged in a grammatical exercise that has ethical value in repetition and memorization of Koran precepts. There is an elemental beauty in this board with its elegant script flowing over the rough wood, like sacred words floating over a landscape.