Wall collapse kills student in overcrowded school at start of academic year

On October 2, one student was killed and 15 others injured when a stairway wall collapsed at the Moatamedeya Preparatory School for Girls in Giza’s Kerdasa district, marking the first day of the new school year with tragedy. 

Just two days later, a portion of a roof collapsed at the Qassem Amin Preparatory School for Girls, Alexandria, where students fortunately escaped without injury.

Sources at the Education Ministry told Mada Masr that the ministry has failed to complete scheduled maintenance and restoration for school buildings this year, laying the blame on insufficient budgetary resources. 

Around 2,800 government schools nationwide out of a total of 49,000 were on a list of facilities in need of maintenance presented to former Education Minister Tarek Shawky for the 2022/23 academic year, according to a source from the ministry’s Educational Buildings Authority who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity.

But of these, said the source, only 1,350 schools were restored, at a cost of LE800 million (around US$40.5 million). The source claimed that the ministry informed the authority — which is responsible for the maintenance and safety of educational facilities — that work on the remaining 1,450 schools had stopped due to insufficient funds.

For the current fiscal year, the Education Ministry was assigned a budget of LE131 billion (around $6.6 billion) in April, though the head of budgeting for the ministry said at the time that it had requested LE162.35 billion (around $8.2 billion). 

As for the Giza school where a student died on the first day back for the new term, a source in the Education Ministry’s legal affairs department told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity that it had not undergone maintenance for seven years, nor was it included on a list of educational facilities in need of maintenance and renovation before the school year began.

Newly appointed Education Minister Reda Hegazy referred the ministry director for Kerdasa, the school principal and building supervisors to investigation in the wake of the incident, “in preparation for taking swift and decisive legal measures against all those found responsible.”

During the course of the Education Ministry’s preliminary investigation, the ministry’s legal affairs source said, Kerdasa district head Nagwa Abdel Moaty laid the blame at the door of the Educational Buildings Authority, which she said did not contact her regarding the restoration of the school building.

The Giza school had requested around LE80,000 from the district head in August, said the source, to renovate the buildings’ facades and to purchase paint for the classrooms.

But the source claimed that the school principal should have notified the buildings authority of the need for maintenance, and that they had failed to do so since the school was last renovated, seven years ago. An investigation being conducted by the Public Prosecution is yet to reach a conclusion. 

Like many schools across Egypt, Moatamedeya is extremely overcrowded, with each of its 23 classrooms holding 75 to 80 students at a time, the same source said. 

Regarding Qassem Amin school, the buildings authority source said it is categorized as a heritage building, which means that in order for its renovation or demolition to take place, permission must first be granted by the Supreme Council for Antiquities or the National Organization for Urban Harmony, depending on the school’s status.

Both bodies have been informed of the Alexandria school’s condition, he said, and a joint team is set to inspect it next week in preparation for its restoration. 

In the wake of the October 2 wall collapse, Education Minister Reda Hegazy called on the Educational Buildings Authority to reinspect all schools across the country, according to a ministry spokesperson statement.

The authority was instructed by Hegazy to review the records of all schools over 15 years old, in preparation for their maintenance. The minister also ordered the formation of committees in the governorates to inspect schools and compile reports in order for restoration work to be carried out through the Armed Forces Engineering Authority alongside the Educational Buildings Authority, the buildings authority source told Mada Masr. 

 In another statement, Hegazy announced that LE100,000 would be paid out in compensation to the family of the deceased student, and a further LE10,000 to each of the students who were injured, in addition to covering the costs of their treatment.