Students must not be sent home, punished over hairstyles – Education Ministry

Jan 06, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – In a memorandum on Thursday, the Ministry of Education announced that no student must be sent home from school because his or her hairstyle is perceived to be in breach of the school’s rule.

“In keeping with the guidelines provided in the Ministry of Education’s ‘Manual of Guidelines for the Maintenance of Order and Discipline in Schools’, learners must not be sent home or suspended, denied entry to school or access to teaching and learning, sent to the Department of Education, administered corporal punishment or any other forms of punishment, for having a hairstyle that is perceived to be a breach of the school’s rule,” the Ministry of Education’s memo said.

The memo reminds that Headteacher’s main priority is to ensure all learners are in school and are being taught with an aim of reducing any further learning loss.

Students observed ‘Hair Freedom Day’ in March last year. (Photo courtesy, Ministry of Education)

The Ministry noted however, that in any instance, if a learner is deemed to have an inappropriate hairstyle, then the school must invite the student’s parent or guardian to discuss the perceived infraction.

It was reported that the move to have the hair rules in schools change, started back in March 2022, after a decision was made to allow female students and teachers to wear their hair how they choose to for one day in observance of International Women’s Day 2022.

That announcement had sparked a widespread debate on social media and triggered a national conversation. The Ministry of Education had since held several rounds of consultation to reform the rules governing hair in schools.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand had highlighted before that the Ministry has no rules regarding hair. It is the individual schools that set and enforce the rules.