February 13, 2025

Apparel Creations Workshop

Crafting Fashion Trends

‘School is not a fashion runway’ | Lead Stories

‘School is not a fashion runway’ | Lead Stories

Education Minister Senator Dana Morris Dixon is seeking to strike a balance in the niggling debate over what hairstyles should be accepted in schools, following the flare-up of the issue on Monday at McGrath High School in Treadways, St Catherine.

The male student, who, allegedly, was late for school, was prevented from attending classes because of the length of his hair and required to await his parents’ arrival to discuss the issue with school administration.

However, it is claimed that the student left the school before his parents arrived and took to social media to complain, urging the intervention of the Ministry of Education.

This prompted the ministry to begin an investigation into the incident, which has again fuelled debate on the grooming policy that should apply to school and is yet another incident on a growing list of similar occurrences, some of which have reached the courts.

Asked to address the issue by a journalist during Wednesday’s post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House in St Andrew, Morris Dixon sought to address the matter with diplomacy but left no doubt that education was the key focus in the issue.

‘Ordered learning’

“There are a couple things we have to balance. We have to balance order, something that we struggle with as a country, and we have to ensure that order is maintained in our educational institutions,” Morris Dixon said.

“We also understand that as young people, they want to express themselves in different ways – it may be in hair, in dress, in other things – but the key thing we know is that school is not a fashion runway. School is about a place of learning, and, for us, our focus is on learning in our schools and ordered learning in our schools,” the minister said.

Morris Dixon said she was aware that many young people think the rules are harsh but stated that while rules can be harsh, they have to be fair.

“We understand that times change and you have to look at things differently. That’s why we have the consultations ongoing,” she pointed out.

Morris Dixon said her ministry has developed a grooming policy that is now the subject of consultation that includes stakeholders such as principals, student councils, and the Church.

“We actually have another one that has been drafted, updated, based on, for example, one court case that we had, and that has been doing the rounds. It was circulated with the principals. It was circulated with the student council members so the students have a voice, the churches. Everybody has been looking at this policy of grooming, and it is not an easy one because I know, as a young person, I thought the rules at school were too harsh, and I know a lot of young people will think that.

“Rules can be harsh, but we have to make sure that the rules are fair, and we have to make sure there is order in our schools.”

[email protected]

link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Copyright © All rights reserved. | Newsphere by AF themes.