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An interest group, Public Interest Advocate (PIA), has raised objections to the Ghana Education Service (GES) decision to ask the authorities of the Achimota school to admit two young Rastafarian boys.
According to the group, the code and ethics set by the GES require students to comply with the rules and regulations of their schools, for this reason, the GES should rescind their directive and not allow the admission of the two boys to the school. ‘school.
Group spokesman Frank Aboagye De Nyansa, however, said that if the GES does not retract its directive, it will make way for all other religious beliefs to place their practices above the rules and regulations of their academic institutions. .
“So we think GES should come back. They made a bad decision. They can do two things; either they would uphold the law and allow all religions to introduce their laws into our education system or change their directive. Because based on the letter from GES, they said it was a religious belief and this is what we condemn, that we do not base on religion and do not allow the child to go at school with that long hair, ”he told JoyNews.
To support his point, he further explained that some religious institutions such as True Faith Church believe in barefoot walking, and asked if the GES “would allow their wards to come to school barefoot?”
He also cited a similar incident in the Volta region, where an 18-year-old Galley Felix was refused admission to the Dzodze-Penyi SHS because he refused to take off a religious cap after have been initiated as a traditional priest in Ketu North Municipality.
According to Frank Aboagye, the reason for his objection to the GES directive is in line with Article 14 (clause 1, subsection E) of the 1992 Constitution, which provides that a person under the age of 18 may have their reduced rights based on welfare and education.
“The constitution clearly states in Article 14 (clause 1, subsection E) that while everyone has the right as a Ghanaian, there are certain parts of the constitution, E [of article 14] that said, only in cases of education and human welfare, your right may be restricted when you are under 18 years of age. In the case of this Achimota Rastafari boy, he is under 18 and must abide by the rules and regulations and the code of conduct of our education system.
“So if he now knows he can’t go to school with long hair, that’s the law. And we think that we give high priority to the Rastafarian religion in the sense that there are so many minority religious groups who do not speak ”, he explained.
A week ago, two high school graduates were refused admission to Achimota School after being assigned to the school through the computerized school placement system because they had dreadlocks.
One of the father of the two boys, Raswad Menkrabea then turned to social media to express his displeasure with the school’s decision; a decision he described as a violation of human rights.
In response to the ongoing media debate, the Ghana Education Service ordered the school authorities to reverse their decision and admit the two boys.
Mr. Frank Aboagye De Nyansa is convinced that the GES has set a bad precedent and will create confusion in the education sector in the long term.
“There are so many religious organizations that have special things to do. If we want to instill all of this in our education system, we will create confusion. We believe that what we are doing now has negative repercussions in the future and we believe that now we would not have any problems, but in the future everyone from every religious group would like to have their way in our education system .
“If the rules of education say that you have to have your hair cut short, your fingernails cut, dress properly, then we should allow that, but if other religions also believe that they should walk barefoot, would we allow their wards to come to school barefoot? ? We are just setting a bad precedent, ”he said.
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