Protests at Egypt's education ministry HQ (Photo: Ahram Arabic news website)
Two protests took place at the Ministry of Education in downtown Cairo on Tuesday afternoon.
Almost all the ministry's employees converged in the lobby to demand the payment bonuses – equivalent to 200% of basic salary – which have been delayed, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.
Protesters chanted against the Muslim Brotherhood, the group which propelled President Mohamed Morsi to power, when Adly Al-Kazaz, an advisor to the education minister and also a member of the group, tried to persuaded them to end the protest.
Adding to the commotion, French-language teachers protested against a potential move to remove French from the Grade 9 syllabus.
French teachers protested at the ministry last week after the ministry halted the printing of the French-language textbooks for the 2013 school year.
Ministry officials said the books would be replaced with CDs and French would still be incorporated in the Grade 9 curriculum. The decision has yet to be confirmed.
French is taught in state schools as a third language from Grade 10 (first year of secondary education).
State language schools (often known as experimental schools), however, teach French from Grade 7. Private schools typically teach both English and French at the pre-school and primary stages.
Worker in many sectors have protested the late payment of salaries and bonuses in recent months.
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