GES directive to Achimota School a threat to conformity and must be reversed - NAGRAT

The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) is asking the Ghana Education Service to reverse it's directive to Achimota School to admit two first-year students who were denied admission into the school because of their dreadlocks.

The school had on Thursday turned home the dreadlocked students, asking their parents to cut off their hair or find another school for them.

The news caught national attention and GES then directed the school to admit the students.

READ ALSO: Achimota School never erred in dreadlocks saga but GES directive a bad precedence.

NAGRAT President Angel Carbonu addressing a press conference on March 22, 2021, said the directive is a threat to conformity and says this amounts to deregulating the school system which will result in chaos.

"We are calling on the GES to redirect the headmistress and staff of Achimota School to ensure that the rules and regulations of the school and any other school is abided by students The school is not a fashion school or a place to exhibit one's religious belief it is an environment for training and conformity is part of training".

He also said NAGRAT is well placed to face any institution that wants to take the matter up legally.

"NAGRAT welcomes anyone who wants to go to court on this issue, that court case will not focus on only dreadlocks, it will cover conformity to rules and regulations".

Father of one of the boys, Raswad Nkrabea told Citi News although he is yet to receive official communication from the school, he is happy with the directive from the GES.

“No I haven’t gotten any message from anybody yet but what I think about it is that it is indeed a step in the right direction that they have advised themselves to do the right thing and have come forward to accept that aspect of it. I do hope that the school will follow through with the process,” he said.

Mr. Nkrabea also wants the decision to accept dreadlocked students in public Senior High Schools (SHS) to be extended to all schools.

“We do not want the situation where it will just apply to just one school like the Achimota School then you find this thing happening in Kumasi next year or somewhere else. We want to make sure the legal processes are followed up properly,” he added.

Reports also indicate that Mr Nkrabea will meet GES on March 22 to get an official confirmation.