CAIRO: A representative of the Minister of Education Ahmed Zaki Badr’s office called for “severe penalties to those responsible for drafting a religiously-biased preparatory school art exam in Beheira.
Naguib Gobrael, board member of the Egyptian Union for Human Rights Organization (EUHRO), who had submitted a complaint on Feb. 7 when Christian parents objected to the exam, was informed of the decision via telephone.
In addition to the penalties, the people responsible for setting the exams will be barred from setting any other exams in the future, according to Gobrael.
“The minister’s office also said that the Christian students who were unable to answer the questions will not be penalized, added Gobrael.
According to the complaint, the assignment was drafted on a religious basis rather than examining the subject of art, favoring Muslim students over their Christian counterparts.
One question in the exam asked students to depict the Hajj ritual of standing atop Mount Arafat where Muslim pilgrims hold their hands up in supplication in their white Hajj robes.
