Christian children are being forced to recite the Quran in schools across Egypt. Christian schoolgirls are also now being required to wear the Muslim headscarf, just like their Muslim schoolmates.

Punishments, including expulsion from school, await those who could not comply, the Express reported.

"No girl can show up with her hair showing. They all have to wear the hijab," the Express quoted 12-year-old Muslim schoolgirl Rahman Salem as saying.

In one school, the head teacher posted a large sign saying that Islam dress is now part of the girls' uniform.

More stringent punishments await children who could not recite the Quran by heart, the source said.

Viola Samir, a 7-year-old Christian student, said her Islamic religious studies teacher held back eight Christian students in her class of 35 and beat the students that did not know the Quran by heart.

Samir has also been punished by her teacher, her father told World Watch Monitor.

"When my daughter told the teacher that the extra texts were not part of the Arabic curriculum which all students have to learn, she was severely punished by her teacher," the girl's father was quoted as saying.

A boy from another school in Egypt was also reportedly punished by his teacher after he failed to recite certain verses from the Quran, according to the boy's father.

The unidentified father said his son was first caned on the back of his hands. The boy was then forced to stand "with his face to the board and both arms up in the air for the entire length of the lesson."

In another incident, a Christian student was pinned down by his classmates while his teacher beat him.

"The teacher made the other students pin down my son as he gave him the bastinado, caning him on his bare feet. It seems only Christians are given this punishment," the boy's father said.

All of the parents interviewed said their children now hate going to school and are often absent because they are now scared of bullying from the teachers and the other students.