- Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu says long hair will “not be tolerated today or tomorrow” in SHSs
- Debate follows viral video of Yaa Asantewaa SHS student crying during forced haircut
- Minister warns leniency on hair could lead to more rule-breaking
The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has weighed in on the ongoing public debate over whether senior high schools (SHSs) should permit students to wear long hair on campus, particularly when it is natural.
Speaking at the 75th anniversary celebration of Mawuli Senior High School in the Volta Region on Saturday, October 25, the minister firmly stated that education authorities would not allow students to keep long hair “today or tomorrow,” emphasizing that “the secondary school environment is not a place for a beauty contest.”
The debate was reignited after a viral social media video showed a visibly distressed first-year student crying as her hair was cut at a barber shop in preparation for her admission to Yaa Asantewaa Senior High School in Kumasi. The girl, wearing her school uniform, was accompanied by her mother, who insisted on the haircut after years of keeping her daughter’s natural hair long.
The barber recorded and shared the video online, showing both the before and after of the haircut. This sparked widespread discussion across social media, radio, and television about hair policies in SHSs.
According to Graphic Online, the student’s father has since confronted the barber, expressing displeasure over the unauthorized filming and posting of the video and has threatened legal action.
This incident mirrors a similar controversy in 2021, when Achimota School in Accra faced public scrutiny for refusing admission to students with dreadlocks.
Addressing the Mawuli SHS gathering, which was attended by the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr. Iddrisu reiterated that discipline must be maintained in schools.
“There is an ongoing debate about haircuts and the size and length of hair in secondary schools,” he said. “We will not tolerate it today, and we will not tolerate it tomorrow, so long as we are molding character.”
“If we give in to hair today, tomorrow it will be shoes, and the next day, how they dress,” he cautioned.
He urged headmasters and the GES to enforce discipline on their campuses, adding:
“Anyone who thinks their child can walk into a school as though attending a beauty contest should know that the school environment is not meant for that, and we will not tolerate it.”
