Forget Your Hair If You Want Education – Amoako Baah To Rasta Students
Political Scientist Dr Richard Amoako Baah says the Rastafarian students should comply with the directive of Achimota school and cut their dreadlocks if they want education in the school.
The admission standoff between parents of the students with the dreadlocks and Achimota school is still raging as the school insist they cannot be admitted until they cut off the hair. The Ghana Education Service has reversed an earlier directive asking the authorities of Achimota school to admit the students.
Teacher unions in the country have backed the decision of the GES and Achimota.
“One does not understand why people want to turn our schools into deregulated institutions where people’s whims and caprices hold way. The school is not a fashion environment, the school is not an environment to exhibit one’s religious beliefs. The school is an environment for training and conformity is part of training,” NAGRAT President Eric Angel Carbonu said.
Commenting on the development, Dr Amoako Baah said the school cannot be compelled to admit the students.
“If the school insists that he has to cut it off, he has to cut it off. We make girls cut their hair and there’s a purpose for it. It’s not a matter of going there to do what you want. White people’s hair is not like our hair. We shouldn’t talk about it because we want to win points. If he wants education, he should forget the hair. That’s it, very simple,” he told Francis Abban on the Morning Starr.
Meanwhile, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has declared support for the position of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT).
Speaking to Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Tuesday, the General Secretary of GNAT Thomas Musa said the school cannot make exceptions for the Rastafarians.
“There are rules governing things happening in schools and we should be mindful that anytime anyone has a challenge, they should come forward with evidence. The school has a dress code. In those days we had Achimota sandals and irrespective of where you’re coming from you’re supposed to wear it. So long as you’re entering that environment, you don’t go and practice what you think, feel or believe”.