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Watani
ع Fr

For second time, Coptic school director rejected

29 February, 2016 - (11:28 AM)
0 0

Nader Shukry

For second time, Coptic school director rejected
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The Coptic school teacher Mervat Seifein from Beni Mazar, Minya, has for the

second time during the last two weeks been rejected by Minya students for the

explicit reason that she is Copt.

Mervat Seifein had been promoted on 8 February to school director of Beni Mazar

Secondary Girls’ School in Beni Mazar, Minya. It was a routine promotion in

which she replaced the previous school director who is a Muslim. The students

protested and held a sit-in in the school courtyard asking for her removal and that

the previous Muslim director, Gamal Abu-Bakr Muaz, should remain in office.

They were joined by a few teachers. Ramadan Abdel-Hamid, the Minya deputy to

the Education Ministry responded to the girls’ demands, upon which the students

disbanded.

Since Ms Seifein is due for promotion in her job, Mr Abdel-Hamid met her last

Saturday and offered her the post of school director of the Boys Technical School

in Beni Mazar, where she has been deputy to the headmaster since 2011. She

accepted and, on the following day, headed to school as usual, this time to act as

school director. She was stunned, however, to find the students there holding a

demonstration against her becoming school director, on account of her being a

Copt. “We don’t want a Copt,” they cheered. The police were not able to disband

the boys’ demonstration in the school courtyard.

Ms Seifein is both furious and surprised. She told Watani that the Education

Directorate’s compliance with the demands of the Beni Mazar Secondary Girls’

School’s students has undermined the State of law and encouraged others to follow

suite in their challenge of the law. Seifein said that ever since her appointment as

school deputy in 2011 she enjoyed very good relations with the school teachers and

students. “The girls who demonstrated against me don’t know me,” she said, “so

why the antagonism? Simply because I am Coptic? The only explanation I can

fathom is there has been fanatic incitement going on against my promotion,

possibly by persons who are purely extremist or who have an interest in keeping

me out of that post.”

Magdy Melek, MP for Minya, said the incident borders on dark comedy. “It is still

an isolated case,” Mr Melek said, “But, left unchecked, it threatens to undermine

the legitimate opportunity of Copts to government jobs or promotions. Such

sedition should be nipped in the bud, otherwise the State stands to lose all dignity

and authority.”

Ezzat Ibrahim, a Minya activist, demanded that a prompt official investigation be

conducted into the matter. “This is flagrant religious discrimination,” Mr Ibrahim

says. “It brings to mind the incident in the southern province of Qena when the

Islamists rose against the appointment of a Coptic governor in the past-Arab

Spring weeks in 2011, and the State gave in and went back on the appointment.

“It is catastrophic that some 50 or 100 teenage girls or boys should impose their

will on the State. And it is equally disastrous that these students were pushed to do

so by a group of fanatic Islamists. The positive official response to their

preposterous demands amounts to an invitation for religious discrimination. The

deputy minister who did that must be dismissed.”

The photo shows Seifien with Watani’s Shukry

Watani International

29 February 2016

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Watani started as an Egyptian weekly Sunday newspaper published in Cairo. The word Watani is Arabic for “My Homeland”. The paper was founded in 1958 by the prominent Copt Antoun Sidhom (1915 – 1995), who strove for the establishment of a civil, democratic society in Egypt, where all Egyptians would enjoy full citizenship rights regardless of their religious denomination. To this day when Watani is published as a weekly paper and an online news site, the objective remains the same. Those in charge of Watani view this role as a patriotic all-Egyptian vocation. Special attention is given to shedding light on Coptic culture and tradition as authentically Egyptian, this being a topic largely disregarded or little-understood by Egypt’s media. Watani is deeply dedicated to offer its readers high quality, extensive, objective, credible and well-researched media coverage, with special focus on Coptic issues, culture, heritage, and contribution to Egyptian society.
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