CAIRO: Minister of Education Ahmed Zaki Badr announced that proctors of national secondary school certificate exams will only be assigned to posts at their governorates of residence after six proctors died this year while on duty. Teachers protested at the Ministry of Education building last month when their colleagues died due to "harsh" working conditions, demanding the resignation of the minister. “The minister had doubled work hours for teachers despite extreme weather [when temperatures surpassed 45°C]," Abdel Hafez Tayel, member of the founding committee of the Independent Teachers Syndicate, previously told Daily News Egypt. Requests by teachers to be relieved of exam supervision duties for medical reasons were not accepted, Tayel claimed. According to Tayel, hospitals even refused to treat teachers before payment. The amended assignment system will come into effect starting the 2010-2011 academic year, allowing proctors to return to their homes everyday instead of sleeping at dormitories through the duration of exams. The new rule does not apply to proctors living in remote areas like the New Valley and Matrouh governorates. Meanwhile, the Independent Teachers Syndicate filed a request to the general prosecutor to launch investigations into case they filed accusing the Ministers of Education, Health as well as the Prime Minister of "jeopardizing citizens' lives." Teachers blame Badr for assigning teachers to remote areas and forcing them to live in "inappropriate dormitories" which "placed psychological pressure on proctors." They also claim that the promised LE 5,000 of compensation for the families of the dead proctors was not paid.
