CAIRO: The Prosecutor General received Thursday complaints accusing top government officials of negligence that led to the death of four thanawiya amma (Egyptian national secondary school certificate) exam proctors this week. On the same day, 28 teachers staged a sit-in in Daqahlia to protest being attacked after supervising thanawiya amma exams. The 28 teachers staged the sit-in in front of a police station in Daqahlia governorate after they were attacked by five bullies and a student. The bullies allegedly attacked the teachers while they were in a microbus heading back to Damietta for not allowing the students to cheat during the exam. One female teacher suffered a nervous breakdown after the incident. The case is still under investigation and interrogations are currently underway. On the other hand, Prosecutor General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, received a complaint from the Founding Committee for an Independent Syndicate for Teachers against Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, Minister of Education Ahmed Zaki Badr and Minister of Health Hatem El Gabali for negligence in providing the necessary services for the thanawiya amma exam proctors which has resulted in the death of four of them in four days. The three ministers are accused of “jeopardizing the lives of citizens,” member of the committee, Abdel Hafez Tayel, told the local press. One proctor, Wagih Mohamed Soliman, 50, reportedly passed away while he was on duty after suffering from fever. Ahmed Mohamed Akef, 40, was reportedly left for five hours without receiving any medical help inside the examination hall until he passed away. The Ministry of Education was not available for comment on the issue on Friday. However, one teacher who supervises thanawiya amma exams describes the environment as “disastrous” inside the examination halls. “We have to report early before the scheduled time of the exam and sit in this heat for hours and hours with no air conditioning. If this doesn't affect our health then definitely it affects our concentration levels. There are no first aid kits anywhere or a trained emergency first aid specialist nearby,” said the teacher who preferred to remain anonymous.
