Achimota School rejects GES directive to admit Rastafarians

Headmistress of the school after a crunch meeting on Monday with the Regional Director of Education and the GES stated that the school will not compromise on its school rules and will only admit the students if they take off their dreadlocks.

The Ghana Education Service (GES) over the weekend directed the headmistress of Achimota School to admit the two teenage students whose admissions were withdrawn due to their dreadlocks.

The directive followed an intense and sustained online protest against the decision of the Achimota school authorities.

But EIB’s Fritz Ameghashie reports that after the meeting on Monday, the Headmistress of Achimota school stated that either the parents compromise on their religious beliefs and allow their children to take off the deadlocks or students will be refused admission to the school.

The decision by the school comes after the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) on Monday fiercely resisted a directive from the Ghana Education Service for management of Achimota School to admit two students with dreadlocks.

NAGRAT President Eric Angel Carbonu said the exemptions will lead to a chaotic school environment in the country and has asked the GES to redirect the management of Achimota School to ensure students abide by rules.

He said “the population of students in Achimota Senior High School is about 4,000 students with about 130 teachers. To be able to manage 4,000 students coming from different homes with different upbringing, different training and different behaviour need to have universal rules and regulation that ought to be followed by all students in school, We cannot begin, this day, to start making exemptions for individual students based on their belief, based on their culture, based on their tradition, and based on many other issues”.

“That will lead to a chaotic school environment. And a chaotic school environment becomes an indisciplined school environment that cannot produce the result that we expect. NAGRAT totally disagrees with the position of the management of the GES and we are calling on the GES to redirect the headmistress and the staff of the Achimota Senior High School to ensure that the rules and regulations of Achimota School and indeed any other senior high school is abided by every student.”

Mr Carbonu added “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 the training.”