Cairo, Egypt: Egyptian Parliament has made an amendment by rejecting the government-drafted legislative proposal that strived to impose an EGP 500-1,000 fine on the parents of absentee students. As per the new amendment now, a fine will be re-imposed if the students remain consecutively absent without any valid reason, even after their parents have been informed prior.
Meanwhile, the rejected proposal stated that the parents of the students would be fined who will continue to remain absent without any acceptable reason, even after they have been notified for one week.
Report by the House’s Education Committee stated that the previous proposal was rejected as the fine amount is big and is beyond the financial capacity of the majority of the parents.
The report underscores, “Not to mention that the proposal treats fathers or parents in general as criminals who should be fined just because their children do not go to school. Many MPs also have strong suspicions that the amendment violates the constitution of our country“.
Below is the list of statements of MPs on the rejection of the proposal:
Amr Darwish, the deputy chairman of the Budget Committee, keeping his point of view on the matter, asserted, “I really hope that the Ministry of Education will pursue different ways which will make going to school appealing to students rather than imposing big fines on their parents,” said Darwish, adding that “one of the major reasons why students refuse to go to school is that those institutions books are challenging to understand for both students and teachers.”
Following his statement, Darwish cited that in order to encourage as well as attract the students for coming to school premises, the education ministry should streamline the education curricula while improving the education level of school teachers.
Meanwhile, another MP, Salah Abu Himila, stated, “The amendment indicates that the Ministry of Education is living in a state of isolation as kids refuse to go to school, not only because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic but also because of the fact that schools do not provide any kind of attractive education and activities.”