Education Minister calls on parents to support GES hairstyle rules

Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has urged parents to cooperate with the Ghana Education Service (GES) in enforcing a strict directive on approved hairstyles for Senior High School students across the country.

Speaking at a stakeholder engagement at the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) in Accra, on Monday, October 27, the Minister explained that the directive aims to promote uniformity, discipline and equity among students at the secondary level.

“After a certain age, when they get into tertiary institutions, they are free to wear what kind of hairstyle they want, but not at the basic, secondary level. 

Therefore, I demand the cooperation and support of parents for the GES to strictly and religiously enforce this directive. 

It’s for the purpose of uniformity. And as I indicated, if we give in to hair, tomorrow it will be shoe, the kind of shoe to wear or not to wear,” he said.

Relatedly, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has endorsed the Ministry of Education (MoE) ban on hairstyle and long hair in second-cycle schools across the country.

Speaking in an interview monitored by Pretertiary.com, the General Secretary of GNAT, Mr Thomas Tanko Musah, said the directive is to enable the students to focus on their education while in school.

“The Ghana National Association of Teachers supports the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, 100%. We have gone past this stage,” he said in an interview with Keminni Amanor on TV3’s NewsCentral.

According to the National Association of Teachers member, “the educational institution is not a party centre, it is a learning institution, so whoever goes there to learn must be ready to play by the rules of the game.

Mr Musah Tanko further explained that “when we are teaching children, we teach them three things- we are teaching the mind, the heart and the hand. It is a holistic education we give the children.”

The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) General Secretary noted that the essence of the directive by the Minister is to get the students to focus on the purpose of being in the school.

“There are things that obstruct the learning process. We want them to focus on why they are there,” Mr Thomas Tanko explained.