GES orders Achimota school to admit Rastafarians | Education

The Ghana Education Service (GES) ordered the principal of the Achimota school to admit two first graders with dreadlocks who showed up to the school to begin their studies in high school (SHS).

The school authorities are said to have refused admission to the two students assigned to it under the computer school placement system (CSSPS) because the school regulations did not allow the admission of students. with dreadlocks.

Social media was inundated with arguments for and against the school authorities’ decision on Friday when the father of one of the students took to Facebook to protest the school’s decision.

Directive

But, later that evening, the GES said a directive had been issued to the school to admit the students.

“We asked him [headmistress] to admit students. The student is a Rastafarian and if there is any evidence to show that he is a Rastafarian, all he has to do is carefully tie the hair, ”said GES Director General Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, at the Daily Graphic.

Reacting to a parent’s claim that the child was refused admission because he wore dreadlocks, he said school officials could not say they would not accept children because of the dreadlocks.

“So you cannot say that you do not admit anybody on the basis of their religious beliefs and therefore, we asked the principal to allow the children to be in school,” said the Director-General.

Father’s reaction

The father of one of the boys, Ras Aswad Nkrabeah, took to social media to pressure the school to reconsider its decision “because it is a serious violation of human rights. We have no choice but to fight ”.

“As a child, he has every right to his culture insofar as such a culture does not violate the Constitution of 1992. He also deserves the right of access to education within his culture, just like the other cultural believers.

“As a Rastafarian, I think that dreadlocks do not cause any damage in any way which should even be a basis for the school authorities to affirm,” he posted on his Facebook wall.

Ras Nkrabeah asked: “The fundamental question to ask is what does our law say about the right to one’s culture? Do you deny a child access to education because of his culture? Do the rules of public schools prevail over the supreme law of the land? ”

Ras Mubarak

Jumping in defense of Ras Nkrabeah and his son, a former NDC MP from Kumbumgu, Ras Mubarak, said the provisions of the constitution were clear.

“No child may be deprived by another person of medical treatment, education or any other social or economic benefit solely because of religious or other beliefs,” he posted on his Facebook page.

He said that what the Achimota school authorities did violated Articles 21 (1) (c), 25 (1), 26 (1) 28 (3) and 28 (4) of the Constitution, saying: humiliated these kids based on the rastafarian culture of children.

He added: “Not accepting them at school because of their dreadlocks is degrading treatment which is frowned upon by section 28 (3).

The former MP said the school can have its rules, but these rules, along with all other rules and laws, are subject to the Constitution of Ghana, which is the supreme law of the land.

“I hope the decision will be overturned in the best general interest of the school and the children concerned,” he concluded.