The Executive Director of Child Rights International, Bright Appiah, has called for a standardised set of regulations for second cycle institutions following the controversy over the two dreadlocked students denied admission at Achimota School.
Speaking to Citi News, Mr. Appiah said schools needed to move beyond operating on conventions.
“There is no clear policy that guides that process so the Ghana Education Service must even begin to look at that. You realise that most of them [schools] operate on the basis of conventions.”
“For me, you cannot leave the discretion of training a child in the hands of the governing body of a school to determine what they deem appropriate. It must be universal, and it must be documented.”
Achimota School has stuck by its decision not to admit the dreadlocked students despite a directive of the Ghana Education Service and the threat of legal action.
Authorities of the Achimota School last week Thursday turned down the dreadlocked students, asking their parents to cut off their hair or find another school for them.
Old students of Achimota School backed the stance of the school saying the GES was trying to undermine its authority.
An educationist, Annis Hafar, acknowledged the difficulty of catering to different backgrounds.
“It will be almost impossible to satisfy [people] under every circumstance. We can’t expect a school to be everything to everybody,” he said to Citi News.
But Mr. Hafar admitted that he was conservative when it comes to the education of young people.
“We have to be seen to be helping schools succeed… The other question I have in mind is this; what is in the best interest of the child,” he asked further.
