CAIRO -
While the family of "Basmala", a fourth-grade student, was waiting for her return from school on the first day of school, her father was surprised by the neighbors telling him that someone had left his daughter bleeding in front of the door of the house and ran away in a tuk-tuk.
After the father took his daughter to the nearest hospital, he discovered that she had a brain haemorrhage, and she remained in the hospital for about 8 days until she breathed her last. Basmala's colleagues told her father that a teacher hit her with a stick on the head after she made a mistake in writing.
For his part, the Egyptian Minister of Education, Reda Hegazy, affirmed that the ministry will not accept any transgression, whether by the teacher or by any official belonging to the ministry, stressing that any transgression is met with firmness and strict measures.
mortal punishment
Osama, the child’s father, Basmala, revealed in a telephone interview to the Cairo talk program on the “Cairo and the People” channel, the details of the incident.
He explained that the teacher confessed before the prosecution that he hit Basmala 3 times on the head, and that the teacher was notorious for beating and the students' complaints about him were repeated.
Basmalah's father also said that the school principal had wrongly treated his daughter, exacerbating her condition, instead of bringing an ambulance, and another teacher had brought his daughter in a "tuk-tuk" and left her in front of the house, and ran away instead of taking her to the hospital.
Condolences and stress
For its part, the Ministry of Education issued a statement saying that Minister Reda Hijazi offered condolences and sympathy to the family of the student Basmala, praying to God to inspire her family patience and solace in their painful affliction.
Hegazy stressed that the ministry imposes strict measures to ensure the safety of the educational process, and will not accept any transgression either by the teacher, who should serve as a role model for students, or by any official belonging to the ministry, stressing that any transgression is met with firmness and strict procedures.
The minister directed that one of the school halls be named after the student, and he also directed the speedy disbursement of the support provided by the Student Insurance Fund to the student's family.
Social media outrage
A state of sadness and anger prevailed on social networking sites in Egypt, and singers launched a severe attack on teachers who use the method of corporal punishment, which has disappeared from most countries of the world.
The pioneers of the communication sites offered their condolences to the family of the girl, Basmala, and demanded that she not waive the claim of their daughter's right, and impose the maximum penalty on the teacher who caused her death.
Some of them called on the Ministry of Education to intervene to effectively end corporal punishment, away from paper decisions that are not implemented on the ground.
New bad news:
= The death of the little girl, Basmala, whose Arabic teacher beat her in the brain with a stick in the classroom to punish her because she did not know how to write spelling.
= May God give patience to your family, my love, and bind their hearts and bring you together in heaven.
— Ahmed Fakhry (@ahmed0101866) October 9, 2022
The girl died, Basmalah,
she died with a stick on the head by a teacher, which
human beings are these,
beating is originally forbidden, and even if it is to be hit, hit the hands as we are used to, and if this is also a mistake,
but on her brain,
from you to God,
you are not the sons of Adam,
this His child, just his child, 😔😔😔 pic.twitter.com/lVyQTkiWPJ
— Skylight 2 (@shoubramisr) October 10, 2022
Against the law
Although Egyptian law prohibits corporal punishment in schools, and the Ministry of Education stresses every year the implementation of Ministerial Resolution No. 287 of 2016 regarding the regulation of school discipline, and the prohibition of the use of physical and psychological punishment for students in schools;
However, the decision is often not implemented in practice, according to a Human Rights Watch report on corporal punishment of children in the Middle East and North Africa.
According to the report of the international organization, nearly 2 out of 3 Egyptian students were beaten in school with sticks, belts or whips, according to an official survey.
The report argues that Egypt should reform its laws to abolish exceptions to punishment for violent discipline of children, and should explicitly prohibit all forms of corporal punishment, because Egyptian laws - including the Education Law and Executive Regulations - do not explicitly prohibit violent discipline of children in schools.
According to the report, the Committee on the Rights of the Child noted in 2011 that corporal punishment “remains a common practice in educational institutions” despite its prohibition, and a survey conducted in 2013 revealed that between 34% and 51% of children were subjected to violence in schools.
In a 2018 survey, 65% of students said they had been beaten with a stick, belt, cane or whip at school.
In contrast, the Egyptian Ministry of Education submitted to Human Rights Watch a 1998 ministerial decree prohibiting “bodily harming a student by beating in any way” subject to “disciplinary measures,” and a 2014 decree completely prohibiting corporal punishment or verbal abuse of sanctioned students, and a 2016 decree that corporal punishment is not an approved disciplinary measure that school staff may take to deal with student infractions such as being late and not wearing a school uniform.