Egyptian Minister of Education Ibrahim Ghonim in an interview stressed the importance of art, music, acting, and singing classes for schoolchildren, refuting recent reports that the ministry intends to ban artistic subjects in public schools.

In an interview with Ahram's Arabic news website on Tuesday, Ghonim described such claims as “fabrications,” affirming that he strongly believes in the importance of such activities for children.

Recently, rumours circulated that the ministry is planning to get rid of artistic subjects in schools, on the grounds that they conflict with Islamic law.

In February, privately-owned Al-Watan newspaper reported that the ministry is investigating a complaint filed accusing a school owned by leading Muslim Brotherhood figure Khairat El-Shater of replacing the country’s national anthem with an Islamic song.

Other rumours also circulated claiming that a photograph of prominent feminist figure Doria Shafiq was removed from textbooks because she was shown not wearing the Islamic veil. The claim was later rejected by the ministry.