Egypt: Coup authorities take over largest Muslim Brotherhood school chain

Egyptian authorities took over a school chain owned by Muslim Brotherhood affiliates in the Upper Egypt governorate of Asyut.

Dar Hiraa school chain is reportedly the largest school chain partly owned by Muslim Brotherhood affiliates in Egypt. It includes 87 schools and is located in different places across the country.

On Monday, the Education Ministry Directorate in Asyut announced the changing of the school’s name into “30 June”, which marks the date of the military coup d’état against Egypt’s first democratically-elected president Mohamed Morsi.

The Ministry of Education formed a new board for the school’s administration, excluding all members of the Muslim Brotherhood and all those who supported the anti-coup protests following June 30.

On Tuesday, police raided the school and informed its staff about the newly appointed board. Police forces were deployed inside the school.

Wafaa Mashhour, the original chairwoman of the board, said in statements to Anadolu news agency that the procedures “are worse than arrests”. “My relation with this school is older than my relation with my children. Forcibly sacking me from the school is a very cruel decision,” she said.

“The school is a subsidiary of an NGO which includes all sections of society. Its board has been elected by the NGO’s members. This is an educational institution. The fact that some of its board members are affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood is not harmful to the school.”