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Egyptian teacher beats schoolboy to death

March 9, 2015 at 2:55 pm

A Cairo schoolboy died yesterday after being severely beaten by his teacher, Egypt’s Ministry of Education said. The teacher has since been suspended.

Cases of violence against children in Egypt:

  • In schools
  • Orphanages
  • On the street
  • Domestic

Corporal punishment is common in Egyptian schools where negligence has also led to the deaths of at least two children in public schools during the past two months. The first child was killed when a school gate fell on him, while the second died after a glass plate fell on him.

The fifth grade student died yesterday “after he was beaten by a teacher the day before”, a ministry statement said.

The statement said the ministry has opened an urgent investigation into the incident.

Forensics department chief Hisham Abdel Hamid told AFP that the 12-year-old child suffered head injuries and died of a brain haemorrhage.

Violence against children in Egypt increased to alarming levels in 2014 compared with the previous three years.

Schools are considered the main places where children are exposed to physical violence.

According to the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood 50 per cent of the cases of violence against children were registered in schools followed by state-run orphanages, streets and cases of domestic violence.

In September last year, the director of an orphanage in Cairo was sentenced to three years in prison for assaulting children under his care.

Children constitute nearly 20 per cent of Egypt’s population, amounting to approximately 17 million people.