The recent appeal by Education and Youth Minister Fayval Williams for public schools to refrain from barring students from attending classes over hairstyles or related grooming issues, has sparked a heated debate on social media.
The issue of grooming and hairstyles for students has been a rather contentious one among school administrators, parents and the very students for years.
Despite the ministry publishing its draft policy on dress and grooming to get feedback from its stakeholders ahead of the beginning of the 2023-2024 academic year in September of last year, the issue has not left the forefront of the education sector.
The draft policy is a general guide for schools, and establishes a framework for treating with dress and grooming, taking into consideration cultural identity, climate, the socio-economic situations of parents, and the general aims of educational institutions.
The draft policy acts as a guide to school administrators to form their own policies for their respective schools.
But such policies crafted by some schools are still being viewed as strict and lacking due considerations of modernity.
Reports even surfaced during the course of the 2023-2024 academic year of students being barred from entering school compounds over issues ranging from the length of school uniforms for girls, and hairstyles of male and female students.
So, it appears that Williams’ calls at Wednesday’s final day of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association’s (JTA) 60th annual conference in Trelawny could fall on the proverbial ‘deaf ears’.
“The issue of locks in schools, of wearing your natural hair, all of those are going to confront us come September 2,” Williams told educators at the conference.
“We are still insisting that no child should be locked out of school because of issues with dress and grooming,” she declared.
The minister said there “ought to be a process in place within our schools for consultation; for talks with the students and their parents.
“We know that these are difficult situations in our schools, but I have every faith and confidence that, together, we can tackle those and have a successful school year,” Williams predicted.
To her credit, in July of 2024 she implored parents to ensure that their children wear “simple hairstyles” to schools.
“I would have said this many, many times to parents, to please send their children to school with simple hairstyles so (that) there’s a balance,” the minister said, adding that the ministry will continue to emphasise that message to parents.
She also declared at the time that schools in Jamaica have allowed students with dreadlock hairstyles to attend their respective institutions without any issues.
Fayval Williams (file photo)
However, those previous remarks appear to have been forgotten, with social media users now focusing on Williams’ current plea for school administrators not to bar students over their hairstyles or grooming.
Some users applauded the minister’s stance, while others vehemently disagreed.
On X, formerly Twitter, a woman expressed her support for the minister, saying, “Finally, a sensible approach! Our children’s hair doesn’t define their ability to learn. Let’s focus on education, not policing hairstyles.”
On the other hand, another X user asked: “But what about discipline and respect for school rules? If we allow anything goes, what’s next?”
The debate also raged on social media platform, Instagram.
For example, a woman commented that, “I’m so tired of this issue. My daughter was sent home last year for her locks that were perceived to be too colourful.
“It’s time for change. Thanks, Minister Williams for standing up for our children’s rights,” she added.
However, a man countered by asking the woman, “But what about the parents who want their children to conform to traditional school standards? Shouldn’t they have a say too?”
In weighing into the argument, an Instagram user who identified himself as an educator, commented that, “As an educator… the problem is, I realise parents are not being held accountable for the behaviour of their children.
“Instead, schools are asked to be lenient, and to “not bar them from school for hair or grooming”, when the parents are the ones who should ensure the child is properly put together. This is one of the reasons why teachers aren’t staying (in Jamaica),” the educator opined.
Said a woman: “Pickney fi dress like a school dem a guh! That’s why the country stay suh; all morals drop smh.”
In response, an Instagram user asked: “How does hair affect anyone? How does it affect you or how they (the students) learn?
“Unuh need fi grow outta unuh colonial mind set. Slavery done!” the user insisted.
Another user of the platform opined that, “Campion College (students) can do whatever they want with their hair; it doesn’t affect their education now does it.”
But in a quick rebuttal, a woman argued that, “They (the students) still look like children though.
“And you and I both know what styles or hair are the ones that’s problematic, and I have never seen a Campion (High) student with that certain look. So, please don’t compare,” the woman suggested.
Meanwhile, a woman commented: “Every time school fi open a year time unuh (Ministry of Education) tell the principal dem this and that, and come September mawning, dem do the opposite and pickney a get lock out.
“If di principals dem nah face no sanction, den it nuh mek no sense unuh bite up (your) mouth ’cause one principal did say, ‘A me run school, not Government,'” the woman claimed.
