A Cairo schoolboy died on Sunday after being severely beaten by his teacher who has now been suspended , Egypt 's education ministry said as an inquiry was launched . Corporal punishment is common in Egyptian schools , where official negligence has been blamed for the deaths in late 2014 of two children in accidents because of badly maintained equipment . The 12-year-old pupil died on Sunday 'after being beaten by a teacher the previous day ' , a ministry statement said . A Cairo schoolboy died on Sunday after being severely beaten by his teacher who has now been suspended , Egypt 's education ministry said as an inquiry was launched ( file picture ) It said the teacher has been suspended and an 'urgent inquiry ' started to determine the circumstances of the boy 's death . The child had head injuries and suffered a brain haemorrhage , forensics department chief Hisham Abdel Hamid told AFP . The number of child abuse cases in Egypt has reached alarming proportions . Between January 2014 and the end of October , attacks on children increased by 55 per cent compared with the average over the previous three years , the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood said in December . It said 50 per cent of the cases of violence against children were registered in schools . In September , the director of a Cairo orphanage was sentenced to three years in jail for assaulting minors . Video footage posted on the Internet show him beating children who run away screaming . In September , the director of a Cairo orphanage was sentenced to three years in jail for assaulting minors .
The teacher has now been suspended , Egypt 's education ministry said . AFP died on Sunday 'after being beaten by a teacher the previous day ' The child had head injuries and suffered a brain haemorrhage .