Education CEO: Hair length doesn’t impede a student’s ability to learn

Black Immigrant Daily News

by Khaila Gentle

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Sept. 1, 2022

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Science & Technology (MoECST) says that students cannot and should not be denied admission to school because of any particular hairstyle being worn by those students, and the Ministry CEO, Dian Maheia, agrees.

On Wednesday, August 31, the Ministry of Education issued a press release expressing concern over school hair policies that cause students with certain hairstyles to be denied entry into their institutions. That release came following reports that students at Bishop Martin High School in Orange Walk had been barred from entering their classroom due to their hair being “too long” by administrative standards.

“We fully recognize and we support the schools in their right to have rules and to have policies. That’s absolutely clear. The one thing that we also want to make clear is the fact that enshrined in our Constitution is that schools cannot and should not remove students or deny students admission to a classroom based on the length of their hair,” said CEO Maheia in an interview this week.

The Orange Walk high school’s policy—which states that male students must keep their hair short—ultimately led to almost thirty students being sent home for not cutting their hair.

In its press release, the ministry highlights the fact that the preamble of the Constitution of Belize states, “equal protection should be given to children regardless of their social status, and that a just system should be ensured to provide for education and health on the basis of equality.

“It is true that school authorities do have the right to impose codes of conduct and general rules and guidelines for the proper administration of their schools. Students cannot, however, be removed from or denied admission to school because of the length of their hair,” says the release.

It also goes on to state that the Constitution affords all Belizeans the right to freedom of expression, conscience, and the right to be protected from discrimination.

In a similar case earlier this year, a Ladyville father claimed that his 5-year-old son had been denied admission to two primary schools because of his dreadlocked hair. The father, Kevin Pollard, also turned to existing legislation to defend his son’s right to an education regardless of his hairstyle.

On his personal social media account, Pollard posted a screenshot of Chapter 36 of Belize’s Education Act (Revised Edition 2003) which states that schools cannot refuse admission of any Belizean into a school based on ethnicity, race, perceived social and economic status, and, for government-aided schools, religion.

The news this week has sparked much debate among the public, with some persons expressing the view that school policies, such as those pertaining to hair length and style, are archaic—relics from the country’s colonial past—while others have maintained that “rules are rules” and the policies enforce discipline.

The CEO, however, says that the ministry is, in no way, encouraging undisciplined behavior that impedes students’ health and safety. What it is doing is asking schools to be mindful not only of the Constitution but of what is truly important. While enforcing uniforms and dress codes are one thing, a student’s ability to learn is not impeded by the length of their hair.

“These are rules that have been in existence for a very long time. Where we are today in 2022 is not where we were when the vast majority of our schools were opened—in some cases, decades ago,” she said.

The past two years have been challenging, to say the least, for students. And according to CEO Maheia, as they return to school for face-to-face learning, the focus should be on bringing them back to a positive environment rather than on hair length.

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