By Heba Fahmy
CAIRO: The National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) filed an appeal on Sunday against the release of supervisor Magdy El-Shaer, who was put on trial for insulting and beating pre-schoolers.
Supervisor Magdy El-Shaer was ordered released from custody and fined LE 2,250 on Saturday for insulting and beating pre-schoolers with a thick wooden ruler.
El-Shaer was fined LE 2,000 for putting the children’s lives in danger, LE 200 for being harsh with the children, and LE 50 for beating them. The fine was suspended for three years.
“The Council demanded a harsher verdict for the severity of the crime,” Councilor Khalil Mustafa, NCCM lawyer told Daily News Egypt.
Mustafa added that there were several mistakes in applying the child law in the court’s verdict, including Article 116 which states that the minimum penalty should be doubled if a crime is committed against a child.
A widely circulated YouTube video that outraged Egyptians showed El-Shaer — who is a supervisor at a pre-school in Gharbeya governorate, not a certified teacher — shouting and beating a group of frightened children repeatedly as he checked their homework.
He is seen at one point pulling a little girl’s hair and severely beating her with the ruler on her head and back for not doing her homework. The girl sobs loudly and shivers, begging El-Shaer to let her go.
His actions were dubbed as “torture” by media outlets that ran it on their programs.
Deputy Minister of Social Solidarity in Gharbeya, Salama Nasr took responsibility for the incident in a telephone interview with ON TV’s “Baladna Bel Masry” talk show last week and shut down the pre-school the next day.
“What I’ve seen [in this video] is completely inhumane,” he said.
El-Shaer was referred to a criminal court in Zefta district in Gharbeyya governorate on Thursday, when the NCCM filed a complaint against him to the Prosecutor General.
However, dozens of parents surprised the public when they took to the streets in Gharbeya on Thursday, demanding the release of El-Shaer and reopening the pre-school.
The parents said that they condoned the beating of their children to discipline and teach them.
One of the mothers was surprised that El-Shaer was even arrested.
“What did he do wrong?” she questioned in a news report broadcast on ON TV’s “Baladna Bel Masry” talk show on Thursday.
“I beat my son to death to force him to go to preschool [everyday],” she added.
“We are in the suburbs and the children here are hard headed,” one of the fathers said.
“We have no problem beating the children as long as they learn,” he added.
“He loves us and gives us chocolate at school,” pre-schooler Israa said describing El-Shaer.
“He only beat us because we didn’t do our homework,” she said.
Mustafa said that the verdict was lenient because of the parents’ support of the supervisor.
“When the best interests of the child contradict his parents’ beliefs, the law should intervene to protect the child’s rights and that’s what we’re trying to do,” he said.
Researcher at the National Center for Educational Research, Kamal Mogeth told DNE that the parents are very ignorant and don’t realize how condoning El-Shaer’s behavior can permanently scar their children and affect their wellbeing.
“We need to educate our society on basic human rights principles,” Mogeth said.
“The school should be a place that nurtures children and encourages them to succeed,” he added.
In a statement sent to DNE, UNICEF expressed concern about the reported incident of corporal violence against children.
The statement added that the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Egypt is a signatory, states clearly that all parties should take the necessary measures to protect children from all kinds of violence and abuse.
“Moreover the Egyptian Child Law 126 of 2008 prohibits violence against children,” the statement read.
Physical or verbal abuse increases the likelihood of children dropping out of school, and negatively affects school performance, according to the statement. It can also lead to anxiety, low self-esteem and aggressive behavior.
“All children must be able to live and learn free from violence and the UNICEF looks forward to working with the government of Egypt and civil society partners to make this a reality for all children in Egypt,” the statement concluded.
