CAIRO - The stand-off between the Minister of Education, Mohamed Gamal Eddin Moussa, and schoolteachers has escalated after the Minister refused to cancel the general evaluation tests, which they have to take in order to be promoted and receive higher wages. The opponents of these exams, members of a group called 'Teachers without a Syndicate', said that Minister Moussa has so far refused to rescind the tests, due to be held this month, and to meet with the teachers to listen to their views. The members of the group staged a peaceful demonstration outside the Cairo-based Ministry of Education building to protest against the Minister's refusal to meet with them and to demand the swift intervention of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf. The teachers want them to cancel the examinations, which they dismiss as 'humiliating' and raise their salaries by 200 per cent. However, a Ministry official, who asked not be identified, said that the purpose of these examinations is to evaluate the knowledge and overall performance of the teachers in class and they are not a precondition for their promotion or getting a pay rise. "The purpose of these tests is to reassess the teachers' professional skills and performance in class, in order to determine who needs further training programmes," the official explained. Ayman el Beially, a member of the Cairo-based Schoolteachers' Syndicate, said that most teachers are refusing to take these tests and will stage peaceful demonstrations in protest. "The tests, that primary, preparatory and secondary schoolteachers will have to sit shortly, are a humiliation for all the members of this old and honourable profession, a Cairo-based female primary schoolteacher told The Gazette yesterday. "The Minister should seek innovative ways to upgrade teachers' skills and improve their salaries through continued education and training, not to humiliate them with these tests after many years of work," the teacher, who would only identify herself as FM, in order to avoid reprisals, said. "Why should a senior teacher who's spent 25 years or more in this profession have to sit the Ministry exam, just like any young, newly qualified teacher?" asked FM, who's been teaching for 27 years and earns around LE500 ($94) a month. "I want the Minister to offer well-designed training programmes for the teachers to develop their skills, which will improve the whole education system in Egypt," she added. "The teachers have every right to object to these tests. We want the Minister to respect our dignity before he asks us to respect our pupils," Adel Esmat, a member of the Cairo-based Schoolteachers' Syndicate, complained. Most teachers are refusing to take this test and they have already started a nationwide campaign, calling on the Board of the Schoolteachers' Syndicate to hold an emergency meeting, at which the teachers plan to announce their official rejection of Moussa's humiliating decision. Esmat, a leading figure in the campaign, said that the teachers are mulling peaceful, nationwide protests and sit-ins before the new school year, which starts on September 19th, if the Minister doesn't cancel these tests.