Anti-Christian discrimination is making the news again in Egypt, in a wholly unique and clever way. Universities are making it a point to schedule exams on the dates of Christian holidays.
According to an April 7 report,
Coptic students experience a tragedy every year because some universities insist on ignoring their right to celebrate their most important holy days, scheduling exams on Christian occasions that are tantamount to holidays. Copts are entitled to official state-sanctioned holidays such as Maundy Thursday and Palm Sunday, but some universities flout the principles of citizenship and insist on depriving students and their families of these celebrations.
As one example, the Faculty of Law at Benha University set the dates for final exams to coincide with Maundy Thursday (the Last Supper) and all throughout Holy Week, including Easter, the most important week of the Coptic calendar. Although many Copts pled that they be exempt from those days, so they could attend church, and take the exams on another date, the university refused to budge.
In the words of the report,
The university ignored Coptic pleas to amend the dates to reflect their right to practice their religious rituals and celebrate Coptic holidays, unlike how the other side [Islam] is accommodated. The same scenario is being implemented by a number of other universities, scheduling exams the day after Sham al-Nessim and the day after Easter. This prevents Coptic students from celebrating the holiday, as they are busy studying in preparation for exams. This has become a common occurrence, and Copts suffer from it every year.
As another example, the Faculty of Archaeology at Cairo University changed the dates of midterm exams for its Critical Thinking course from April 7 to Sunday, April 13—Palm Sunday. According to the report,
Copts demanded that the exams be postponed to a date that would allow them the opportunity to celebrate their holidays, within the framework of equality and the consolidation of citizenship. The Ministry of Education and Technical Education stated that it had instructed education directorates in the governorates not to hold exams during Coptic holidays, but the Ministry of Higher Education has yet to take any consideration of Copts’ right to celebrate their holidays.
By way of comparison, it should be noted that all Egyptian universities observe all Islamic holy days. Universities granted all students a full week off school to celebrate the end of Ramadan.