By Hagar al-Dosoki
CAIRO
Since the start of the new academic year, Egyptian authorities have tried to marginalize scores of public schoolteachers affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood group.
Education Ministry spokesman Hani Kamal said that, since the new school year began in September, over 200 senior teachers had been relieved of their duties and transferred to administrative posts in the ministry after they "were proven" to belong to the Brotherhood – the group from which ousted president Mohamed Morsi hails.
"The decision comes as part of the Egyptian authorities' policy of not recognizing the Muslim Brotherhood," Kamal told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday, referring to the decades-old Islamist group that was labeled a "terrorist" organization by Egypt's military-backed government nearly one year ago.
"Teaching is a sensitive position that requires isolation from any affiliation with politics, not to mention terrorism," Kamal said.
He went on to deny that any public schoolteacher had been fired for expressing support for the Brotherhood.
Egypt's military-backed authorities launched a violent crackdown on the Brotherhood and its allies following Morsi's ouster by the army last year after a tumultuous year as president.
Since then, hundreds of Morsi supporters have been killed or injured and thousands of others thrown behind bars – including Morsi himself and most of the Brotherhood's senior leadership.
The Egyptian government designated the Brotherhood a "terrorist organization" last December, blaming the group for a series of deadly attacks on security forces.
The Brotherhood, for its part, has emphatically denied the allegations.
The Brotherhood also rejects the presidency of Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi, a former army chief who is widely considered the driving force behind Morsi's ouster.
Al-Sisi was declared the winner of a presidential election conducted in May.
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