Education minister under scrutiny in forced labor case

The administrative prosecution is investigating claims that Education Ministry officials coerced vocational high school students into forced labor, the state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram reported on Wednesday.

More than two decades ago, an interactive education program was implemented to place vocational high school students with businesses for training and internships.

However, accusations have surfaced that businesses colluded with the Education Ministry to abuse the program, using the students as an unpaid labor force and assigning them tasks that are not age-appropriate.

The case currently under investigation alleges that three years ago, Education Minister Mahmoud Abul Nasr — head of the ministry's technical education department at the time — made a deal with the food company Americana to enroll students from three high schools in a training program as part of their coursework.

Americana employees would grade the students on their work at the company, and are accused of abusing their position in doing so.

Abdel Hafez Tayel, the head of the Egyptian Center for the Right to Education, says that Americana is not the only example of businesses abusing the program.

He says that the center started receiving complaints from students enrolled in this program in 2009. The students assigned to Al-Seweidy Factory for Cables complained of being assigned to what he calls “labor that degrades dignity,” and were not paid.

Most students didn’t file complaints, however, out of fear that their supervisors would give them failing grades or that they would lose the future employment that they were promised, Tayel says.

The center’s investigations revealed that the contract was made between the companies and the Education Ministry, bypassing the students and the school.

Furthermore, the contracts presented in the case reveal that the companies would pay ministry officials as part of the deal, reported Al-Ahram.

The new case implicating Americana claims that students were forced to work overtime and late shifts with no compensation, and that the absence of a curriculum left them with cleaning and lifting jobs.

The case also alleges that the students were not insured, and that one student died on the job while another sustained a serious injury.

Tayel says that the practical internships are a good tool in vocational schools, but only if practiced correctly.

According to the law, students are entitled to both insurance and fair pay in return for their labor. In order to protect the students' rights, the contract has to be directly between them and the companies, says Tayel, and the ministry has to supervise the internships to make sure the students are not abused.