Chairman of the Achimota Parent Teacher Association (PTA), Dr Andre Kwasi-Kumah, has justified the selective application of rules in the school in the midst of the controversy over the rejection of three students because of their dreadlocks.
Backing the decision of the school, Dr Kwasi-Kumah said the rules prescribed for all students to keep short hair for conformity purposes do not apply to those on an exchange programme.
There has been a backlash from several quarters against the school’s decision, after it defied a Ghana Education Service directive to re-admit the students, with human rights groups describing it as discriminatory.
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“Relaxing the rules for the Rastafarian students would open the floodgates for chaos… Then you might as well allow all religions that express their religious views in their hair to come on board, all the ladies will be growing their hair, and the boys will grow facial hairs and it would be a distraction to the conformity and the reason why they are there,” Dr Kwasi-Kumah told 3FM.
On the allegations that the school applies different rules to Caucasian students and those of other races, Dr Kwasi-Kumah said “the only time the exceptions are made, are when the students are on exchange programme and on short stints.”
He said photographs circulating on social media purporting to show some Caucasian students with long flowing hair and some with locks “are photographs of students who may have medical reasons to keep their long hair or those who were on exchange duty.”
The school’s PTA believes conforming to the rules means “every student be it Africa, Asian, Caucasian must keep short hair.”
When pressed on the matter of discrimination, Dr Kwasi-Kumah maintained, “the only students who do not conform to the rules of Achimota, are those who are in the country from schools abroad for a few months on exchange programme. After that they leave, so those are the students you would see wearing the school uniform and keeping the long hair.”