An Egyptian mathematics teacher has gone on trial accused of beating an 11-year-old pupil to death because he did not do his homework. After using a ruler, Haitham Nabeel Abdelhamid, 23, allegedly took the boy outside the classroom and hit him violently in his stomach. Islam Amr Badr fainted and later died in hospital of heart failure. The incident, at Saad Othman Primary School on the outskirts of Alexandria in October, caused national outrage. The Egyptian education minister is expected to be called as a witness during the trial, which has been adjourned to Sunday. Islam's father, Amr Badr Ibrahim, says others should stand trial with his son's teacher. "The problem is the teaching and the teachers because they cannot find good teachers," he said. "The minister of education should be the first person to be accused - how can he agree to let such a young man teach children?" The BBC's Yolande Knell in Cairo says for many Egyptians, the case is a shocking reminder of the failings of their state education system, where young, inexperienced and under-resourced teachers often struggle to control classes of 60 to 100 children. The Egyptian government says it is bringing in education reforms - including new teacher testing. It is also trying to tackle violence in schools and has issued new statements on the prohibition of corporal punishment. Source: BBC