The Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, has criticised the lack of regard for the welfare of the two students who have been denied admission to Achimota Senior High School because they wear dreadlocks.
Mr. Asare believes the debates sparked by the action of the school resemble power struggles between various interested parties.
“How does winning this war ensure that the welfare of the child is made paramount. Let’s divorce ourselves from these personal interests and look at the bigger questing of inclusion,” he asked on The Big Issue.
“In this case, it should have been a simple matter because in all these discussions, conventions and protocols we have made, the welfare principle is cross-cutting,” he added.
“In all matters affecting children when every public agency is making a decision, the welfare of the children must be of paramount consideration,” Mr. Asare stressed.
“So when you look at the back and forth we are having, we have not situated the welfare of these children within paramount levels in these discussions.”
The school had asked the parents to cut off their ward’s hair or find another school for them.
The families of the two students plan to challenge the decision of Achimota School in court.
They maintain that Achimota School is violating the rights of their wards.
In defence of the school’s decision, the Achimota School PTA said its revised rules and regulations from August 2020 indicate that students must keep their hair low, simple and natural.
