The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education in Qalyoubia governorate Taha Ajlan decided on Tuesday to set up a committee to investigate an incident in which a ninth grade female student was the recipient of a strip-search in the bathroom at Namoul Preparatory School in the city of Toukh for a missing mobile phone.
Ajlan decided to listen to the testimony of the student in her grievance against the school’s social worker for the strip-search. The committee will also listen to the school administration’s statements and then submit a final report on the matter the the Qalyoubia Education Directorate.
Ajlan confirmed that if the investigative committee convicts the female social worker, then all those involved will be punished, if proven not guilty, then a penalty will be imposed on the student.
He pointed out that he will not allow such a mess to occur inside the school without the harmed person obtaining his/her full right.
The mother of the student had filed a complaint to Qalyoubia Education Directorate earlier, accusing the school’s social worker of stripping her daughter naked under the pretext of searching for a mobile phone. It turned out that the student had not stolen the phone in question.
The student’s mother added that she had at first filed a complaint about the incident with the school’s principal, whose unfortunate response was to expel the student. Then, one teacher claimed to have a pornographic video for the girl and threatened that he would post it on social media if she escalated the complaint about the strip-search to the directorate, according to the mother.
The mother stated that the incident started when a teacher’s mobile phone disappeared. When the students were asked about it, her daughter replied, “I saw it with a student in the courtyard and the phone was black”, and the teacher then accused her of stealing it.
The teacher called for the school’s social worker, who took the student to the bathroom and told her loudly, “I need you to take off all your clothes; I need to see you as if you have just been born (naked),” according to the mother.
The mother added, “My daughter obeyed the orders of the social worker and took off her clothes. She then suffered from a bad psychological state, and the school social worker did not respond to her tears. After all this, they did not find the mobile phone with my daughter and left her to get dressed in the bathroom.”
“When my daughter came home and I knew what had happened, I decided to file a complaint against all the school officials and the Education Directorate for insulting my daughter,” the mother said.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
