Had A Koma As A Result Of His Head Being Hit By A Language Teacher With His Back, Siswi 10 Years Old Died

Illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Tony total)

JAKARTA - A 10-year-old female student died on Sunday, after experiencing a coma due to being hit by the teacher in the head.

Ironically, she is the third female student to be killed in a school incident since the new academic year began on October 2.

The victim, known as Bismallah Mohammed, died in a hospital in El Sinbellawein City, north of the capital Cairo, Egypt, according to The National News Oct. 10.

Bismallah was hit on the head by his Arabic teacher on October 2, the first day of school, when he made a misspelling of writing on the blackboard, authorities said.

He lost consciousness shortly after returning from school. The father then rushed him to the hospital. To the prosecutor, the father said his daughter was never aware.

Meanwhile, a 50-year-old teacher suspected of this matter, has been arrested and the principal has been suspended pending the completion of the investigation.

Last Monday, a 7-year-old girl died after falling from a third-floor window at her school in Cairo, as she escaped from a teacher suspected of trying to physically punish her. The teacher has been arrested.

The day before, a girl died and 15 were injured when a ladder collapsed partially, as they ran to their class after resting in a town near Cairo. Authorities are investigating the incident. Despite being banned by law, physical punishment is not uncommon in public schools in Egypt, where many teachers use rulers, wooden sticks, or even tree branches to beat students. Verbal bleeding also often occurs.

There are 25 million school children in Egypt, a country of 104 million. They attended nearly 50,000 public schools.

Meanwhile, there are about 9,000 private schools, where classes restart after the summer holidays in September.

Many Egyptian state schools have experienced neglect for decades. They are full of shortness of breath, lack of adequate facilities and many buildings are in dire need of renovation or reconstruction.

Authorities said funds of around 130 billion Egyptian pounds (approximately $700 million) were needed to build 250,000 classrooms, to end school congestion.

Separately, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi recently said, although school system reform is important and urgently needed, the Egyptian will not tolerate money for education, while they do not have reliable electricity, roads, or food supplies.

"As a society, as ordinary citizens on the streets, we will not accept the consequences of placing all state resources limited to education," explained President El Sisi.

The new academic year in Egypt began with the backdrop of an acute economic crisis, most of which was caused by the impact of the Russian-Ukraine war.

Meanwhile, parents often complain about the increase in school supplies, rather than complaining about the recent spike in food prices.