The Ghana Education Service backtracked on its order to the Achimota School to admit some two boys with dreadlocks, the lawyer of the Rastafari Council has said.
According to a report on myjoyonline.com, Ras Tetteh Wayo, the lawyer, said this happened when the GES met with the concerned parties (the parents of the students and the headmistress of Achimota) following its earlier directive on March 20.
The refusal of the school to admit the two boys received a lot of backlashes online, with many calls made for the school to accept them regardless of how their hair looked.
Ras Tetteh Wayo, speaking on The Pulse on JoyNews, revealed that during that meeting with the GES, the Service sided with the headmistress of Achimota and backtracked on their initial directive.
He explained further that the GES stated to them that the purpose of the statement was to quell the public outburst on the issue, and not what it was misinterpreted to be.
“It was the GES that called for the meeting for the 2 parties, i.e. the parents of the students and the Headmistress of Achimota School…and one of the GES’ deputy directors who chaired the meeting was clear that that was just to quell the media outburst and to bring a bit of calm environment in the country.
“But the GES will still stand with the Headmistress of Achimota School’s position that they will only take on the young Ghanaians,” he explained.
Also, he stated that the GES “publication we all saw some few days was a façade, a fluke.
“It was just to deceive the citizens of this country to believe that the GES is going to restore peace. So Ghana should be aware of how the matter has now unfolded and at this meeting, GES supported the position of Achimota headmistress,” he added.
According to him, the GES made them aware that it stands with the headmistress of Achimota School that the 2 students be turned away because of their dreadlocks.
He stressed that the GES said it agreed that the boys should first cut off their dreadlocks before they can be enrolled in the school.
He stated that Rastafari Council is shocked by the GES’ reaction and thus they will look at other ways of resolving.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) had also called on the GES to reverse its directive to Achimota School.
“We are calling on the Ghana Education Service to redirect the Headmistress and the staff of Achimota Senior High School (SHS) to ensure that the rules and regulations of Achimota SHS and indeed any other Senior High School is abided by every student,” President, Angel Carbonu said.
The Achimota School turned away two boys because of their dreadlocks