CAIRO: The tragic death of 11-year-old Islam Badr has created media frenzy about corporal punishment in schools. The fourth grade student at Saad Othman Primary School in Alexandria died after being kicked in the stomach by his mathematics teacher on Monday Oct. 27. The incident has brought this common practice in schools under the spotlight - teachers often resort to violence as a means of punishment. According to statistics by the United Nations' Children's Fund (UNICEF), an estimated 50 percent of children in Upper Egypt and 70 percent of children in urban areas are subjected to physical discipline in schools. There has been an increase in media coverage of similar incidents following Badr's death. Local press reported that a teacher in the governorate of Mahalla used a broomstick to attack 15 students, who were immediately transferred to a nearby hospital. Earlier this week, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported the death of 10-year-old Khadiga Alaa Mohamed. The fourth grade student was asked, along with other classmates, by her mathematics teacher to stand up against the wall for not completing her homework. When the teacher asked a school worker to bring him a stick to punish the undisciplined students, Mohamed started shaking and passed out. She was then transferred to a medical center where she passed away. The victim's mother blamed the teacher for the death of her daughter; he was suspended from work pending investigation. Yesterday the official news agency MENA said that a teacher in Fayoum was suspended after a second grade student, who was running away from him after he scolded her for not finishing her homework, crashed into the wall and broke a tooth. Following Badr's death, renowned journalist and TV host, Mahmoud Saad, called on the Minister of Education Yosry El-Gamal to step down in reaction to Badr's death. "I demand the resignation of the Minister of Education. This is the only appropriate response to this crisis, Saad said during his live interview with Amr Badr, the boy's father on terrestrial Channel 2's popular nightly talk show "El-Beit Beitak. Saad said that this incident only adds to a string of problems with the ministry, citing the cheating scandal during the thanawiya amma exams and the overall deteriorating education system. In theory, corporal punishment and overall violence in schools is illegal in accordance with a decree issued by the Ministry of Education in the 1990s. But since this decree isn't enforced, the practice is commonplace in public schools. Despite all the media coverage violence in schools has received during the past week, the ministry hasn't taken any drastic steps to solve the problem, limiting its reaction to investigating individual incidents and condemning the practice. El-Gamal has also denounced this "phenomenon during his visit to the Ahmed Zuweil Preparatory School. "I ask the schools' board of directors to play a positive role in eradicating this phenomenon. I also ask families to make sure that their kids are raised on good manners and are aware of our morals, El-Gamal said during his visit, adding that violence in schools "will not be tolerated. Moreover, Reda Abou Serae, the minister's assistant, told the press that the Ministry of Education will continue to follow up on this incident and that an official letter has been sent to all schools "prohibiting the use of violence in schools. Human rights organizations slammed this growing problem in Egypt, saying that it is not receiving any attention from government officials and the media. The majority are calling on the government to take serious action against corporal punishment in schools, which is a violation to child and human rights. "Violence in schools is an endemic problem in Egypt despite the Ministry of Education's decree prohibiting it, said Hossam Bahgat, chairman of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. "There needs to be effective legal measures taken to completely end this problem, said Bahgat.
