Part of it was the connection of many Christian minority communities to the great European powers of the 19th century. What would happen is that the Sublime Porte would grant most favored status to nations that would allow them trading rights and the right to set up certain institutions to both proselytize and teach. Schools of primary, secondary, and higher education would be set up for the "protected" communities (for example, the French "protected" the Catholic minority). I believe the AU's were established during this time (American University-Beirut, American University-Cairo, etc.). Part of this education was language which would help greatly in terms of commerce and such. Relatively, muslims did not have the same advantage there. There were attempts by the State to set up schools which had uneven success at best.