{"id":17904,"date":"2023-12-29T17:05:13","date_gmt":"2023-12-29T15:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/?p=17904"},"modified":"2026-10-08T20:19:57","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T18:19:57","slug":"newsletter-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/newsletter-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Appeal against Exclusion of Female Teachers over Excess Weight, and 127 Palestine Supporters Remain in Detention"},"content":{"rendered":"

EIPR Challenges the Exclusion of Successful Female Candidates in the 30,000-Teacher Competition over Excess Weight<\/h3>\n

The Egyptian Initiative<\/a> for Personal Rights on Thursday, 28 December, challenged the decision of the Minister of Education to exclude successful female candidates in the 30,000-teacher competition because of excess weight, pregnancy or fitness, even though they had passed the qualifying tests for appointment.<\/p>\n

The case dates back to the Ministry of Education’s announcement, at the beginning of the current year, that it would appoint about 30,000 teachers annually for five years to meet the needs of developing the education sector, especially given the clear shortage in the number of teachers in public schools in recent years compared with the growing number of students. However, large numbers of the successful female and male candidates in the competition were surprised to be excluded for reasons related to excess weight, height, pregnancy and recent childbirth, or for failing training sessions held for medical, physical and mental fitness and the appearance examination, all of which were held at the Military Academy in Cairo and under its supervision.<\/p>\n

According to official statistics, there is a large shortage in the number of teachers, reaching 400,000 teachers across all educational stages, while the ministry is working through the competition to appoint 150,000 teachers over five years, so that it can attempt to fill the shortage, taking into account the salary budget for them over the same period.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Education is facing objections<\/a> from the House of Representatives, whose members have submitted more than five requests for briefing to Minister of Education Reda Hegazy regarding the method of selecting appointees during the past period and the exclusion of some based on fitness tests or because of pregnancy, which is not supposed to be a punishment for applicants.<\/p>\n

The Egyptian Initiative considered in a statement that this step is “explicitly discriminatory” and “in violation of the provisions of the Constitution and the law”.<\/p>\n

The Egyptian Initiative stated that the successful female and male candidates joined training courses in three stages:<\/p>\n

The first: health fitness, which is the medical examination conducted inside the Military Academy and by it. Those who passed the examination were informed to move to the second stage, which is athletic fitness. Pregnant women, women who had recently given birth, and male and female teachers with anaemia were exempted from joining this stage, on the condition that they proceed directly to the appearance examination without passing through the second stage.<\/p>\n

The second: athletic fitness, which includes several exercises such as running, jumping, push-ups and sit-ups, and balance. At this stage, everyone who failed to reach the levels set for passing the training was excluded.<\/p>\n

The third: the appearance examination, in the presence of a representative of the Ministry of Education and military commanders.<\/p>\n

On 4 October 2023, the Minister of Education announced contracts with only 14,000 assistant teachers, which means the exclusion of about 14,000 of those who had previously passed the ministry’s competition, because of the results of the medical and athletic fitness tests and the appearance examination held by the Military Academy, despite the state’s urgent need to place teachers and fill the shortage in order to improve the educational process.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/div>\n

127 Protesters in Support of Palestine Remain in Detention<\/h3>\n

The Egyptian Supreme State Security Prosecution decided, in the middle of the week, to renew the detention of 127 protesters from 20 different governorates for 15 days pending investigations into the protests that broke out on 20 October 2023 in support of the Palestinian cause and in condemnation of the war on Gaza.<\/p>\n

The detention renewal decisions came in 24 cases related to the protests in support of Palestine over the course of a week, procedurally and without investigations, and none of the appeals against the detention decisions was accepted.<\/p>\n

The detention decisions included Abdel Samad Rabie Abdel Rahman, who suffers from leukaemia and weakness of the heart muscle, and to whom the 57357 Children’s Cancer Hospital had granted a scholarship, according to statements by lawyer Khaled Ali. Abdel Rahman had been transferred to hospital after fainting inside his place of detention and falling into a coma, days after the State Security Prosecution rejected his defence’s request to release him because of his deteriorating health.<\/p>\n

The Supreme State Security Prosecution charged the detainees with “joining a terrorist group, inciting protest through the use of social media, participating in a gathering of more than five people, committing a terrorist act, deliberately sabotaging public and private property, and damaging movable and immovable property”.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/div>\n

Cairo’s Plan for a Ceasefire<\/h3>\n

Egypt’s State Information Service said that Cairo has put forward a proposal to end the bloodshed in Gaza, including a three-stage plan for a ceasefire.<\/p>\n

The head of the service, Diaa Rashwan, said that the Egyptian authorities had put forward a proposal to bring the views of the parties concerned closer together, seeking to stop the aggression on Gaza and to restore stability.<\/p>\n

Rashwan explained that Egypt had not received any responses to the proposed framework from any of the parties concerned so far, adding that the proposal would be developed in detail and announced in full to Egyptian, Arab and international public opinion once Cairo receives the responses.<\/p>\n

Days earlier, the head of the Egyptian intelligence service, Abbas Kamel, presented to the delegation of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, which recently visited Cairo headed by the head of the movement’s political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, an Egyptian initiative for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and for reaching an agreement on the exchange of Israeli detainees in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, in three stages as follows:<\/p>\n

The first stage:<\/p>\n

1- It includes a humanitarian deal lasting from 7 to 10 days, during which Hamas releases all the civilians it holds, including women, children, the sick and the elderly, in exchange for Israel releasing an appropriate number, to be agreed upon, of the Palestinian prisoners it holds, as follows:<\/p>\n

a- A complete ceasefire by both sides in all areas of the Gaza Strip, the redeployment of Israeli forces away from the vicinity of population centres, and allowing citizens to move freely from south to north, as well as the movement of cars and trucks, while Hamas commits to stopping all forms of operations against Israel.<\/p>\n

b- A halt to all forms of Israeli air activity, including drones and reconnaissance aircraft, in all areas of the Strip.<\/p>\n

c- Intensifying the entry of humanitarian and relief aid (medicines, medical supplies, fuel and food) to all areas of the Strip, especially between Gaza and the north of the Strip.<\/p>\n

The second stage:<\/p>\n

2- The second stage includes the release of all female soldiers held by Hamas in exchange for a number, agreed upon by both sides, of Palestinian prisoners held inside Israeli prisons, as well as the handover of all bodies held by both sides since the start of operations on 7 October 2023. This stage lasts seven days, according to the criteria and procedures of the first stage.<\/p>\n

The third stage:<\/p>\n

3- During this stage, negotiations take place for a period of up to a month on Hamas releasing all the Israeli soldiers it holds, in exchange for Israel releasing a number, agreed upon by both sides, of Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli prisons, provided that Israeli forces are redeployed outside the borders of the Strip during this stage, with the continued halt of all air activity and Hamas’s commitment to stopping all military activity against Israel.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/div>\n

From January, the Minimum Pension Is EGP 1,300<\/h3>\n

The National Organization for Social Insurance announced raising the minimum pension to EGP 1,300 instead of 1,150, and the maximum to EGP 10,080 instead of 8,720, while the minimum insurable wage will be raised to EGP 2,000 instead of EGP 1,700, and the maximum to EGP 12,600 instead of EGP 10,900.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/div>\n

Request for Briefing on Applying the Minimum Wage in the Private Sector<\/h3>\n

MP Mohamed Abdullah Zein El-Din, a member of the House of Representatives, submitted a request for briefing to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, addressed to the ministers of finance, planning and labour, to establish a mechanism guaranteeing the private sector’s commitment to applying the minimum wage to its workers. The request stated that the National Wages Council does not have a mechanism for inspecting private sector establishments to ensure their commitment to applying the minimum wage, and that monitoring the extent of compliance takes place through the company’s workers, who submit complaints to the complaints committee of the National Wages Council or to the directorates of the Ministry of Labour if they do not receive it.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/div>\n

Senator: The Medicine Shortage Crisis Is a Conspiracy against Egypt<\/h3>\n

Hussein Khodeir, deputy head of the Senate’s health committee, said that there is no crisis or shortage in the medicine market in Egypt, particularly diabetes medicines, as there are 12 “equivalent” alternatives on the market, noting that the Egyptian Drug Authority is working well and respectably to provide all types of medicines. During televised statements, he called for the Ministry of Health to cooperate with the Egyptian Drug Authority in issuing a list of equivalent and alternative medicines for some imported brand names that are not available on the market. He concluded by describing what is happening regarding the shortage of some imported medicines on the market as a conspiracy, saying: “The conspiracy exists because we have started to take off in exports, and everything happening in the medicine market is the result of the conspiracy against Egypt,” as he put it.<\/p>\n

Complaints have increased in recent days about the shortage of some well-known medicines in Egypt. Traders and pharmacists say there is an abundance of active ingredients, but the growing reliance on the brand names of imported medicines leads consumers to feel a shortage when local alternatives are offered.<\/p>\n

The Pharmacists Syndicate in Egypt has previously called for selling medicines by their scientific name, the officially registered name of the medicine, instead of by the brand name chosen by the producing companies, with the aim of reducing prices and enabling consumers to choose the medicine suitable for their condition.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/div>\n

Egypt Asks Its Citizens to Leave Sudan<\/h3>\n

The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on all citizens present in Sudan to leave it urgently, including from areas not reached by the armed clashes taking place between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces.<\/p>\n

The ministry urged Egyptians not to travel to any Sudanese city at the present time under any circumstances, in order to preserve their safety.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday that it is following the situation of Egyptians stranded abroad, as part of preserving their security and safety, particularly in areas witnessing armed clashes.<\/p>\n

It added that Egypt’s embassy in Khartoum succeeded in evacuating 18 male and female students, along with a number of their parents stranded in the city of Wad Madani in Sudan’s Al-Gezira State, to which the armed clashes recently extended.<\/p>\n

Thousands of Sudanese were forced to flee again as the clashes extended to the city of Wad Madani, which lies 180 kilometres from the capital Khartoum and had quickly turned into a main centre for displaced people and relief operations.<\/p>\n

About half a million Sudanese had fled to Al-Gezira State before the Rapid Support Forces began their advance towards the villages adjacent to the highway between Khartoum and Wad Madani.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/div>\n

Egypt Announces the Detection of the New COVID-19 Variant<\/h3>\n

The Egyptian Ministry of Health announced on Thursday the detection of the new COVID-19 variant JN.1, after two citizens tested positive for it in laboratory tests carried out on them.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Health said that the health condition of those infected is stable and that there is no medical need for them to be admitted to hospital, as their symptoms are mild and limited to the upper respiratory tract.<\/p>\n

The World Health Organization has classified JN.1 as a low-risk variant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Egypt announces the detection of a new COVID-19 variant and urges its citizens to leave Sudan, while a senator describes the medicine shortage as a conspiracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":6961,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[412],"tags":[18201,18194,3776,18200,18197,18199,18198,18196,14259,18195],"kateb":[710],"class_list":["post-17904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-en","tag-covid-19-jn-1","tag-egypt-teachers","tag-egyptian-initiative-for-personal-rights","tag-egyptians-in-sudan","tag-gaza-ceasefire-proposal","tag-medicine-shortage-egypt","tag-minimum-pension-egypt","tag-palestine-solidarity-protests","tag-supreme-state-security-prosecution","tag-teacher-recruitment","kateb-zawia3-com"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/\u0646\u0634\u0631\u0629-\u0632\u0627\u0648\u064a\u0629.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17904"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17905,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17904\/revisions\/17905"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17904"},{"taxonomy":"kateb","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kateb?post=17904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}