The governing board of Achimota school has expressed its dissatisfaction with the ruling of an Accra High Court ruling on Monday, which urged the school to admit two Rastafarian students that it had earlier refused admission.
In a statement, the board said it has, therefore, directed its lawyers to appeal against the ruling of the court.
The school took a firm decision to deny admission to two Form One students who gained admission this academic year.
This was based on the fact that the two students were wearing dreadlocks due to their religious beliefs. They were compelled to either have their dreadlocks cut off or stay away from the school.
Not satisfied with the decision of the school, the parents of the two students headed to court for redress on the matter.
“The court ruled that the religious rights of the two applicants had been violated by the school management as they sought to enforce the time-tested and well-known rules of the school”, the judgement stated.
In the ruling of the court, Achimota School was further directed to admit the two applicants, a decision the board sharply disagrees with.
Background
Earlier this year, BECE students who qualified for admissions into Senior High Schools were selected and placed in schools of their choices which included the Achimota School.
However, two Rastafarian students who gained admissions into the school were denied by the school authorities due to their dreadlocks, a move that sparked nationwide debate, with some arguing that the rules of the school must be respected whilst others wanted the religious rights of the students to be upheld by the school.
In the ensuing controversy, Ras Aswad Nkrabeah, father of one of the students threatened legal lawsuit against the school’s refusal to admit his ward, because according to him the school’s decision was against his son’s right to education.
He was very clear that his son must be allowed to keep his natural hair for cultural reasons, because in his view, his son cutting off the dreadlocks would be a disrespect to hisreligious beliefs.
In the heat of the raging hullabaloo, the Ghana Education Service (GES), which is the regulator of the Education in the country, issued a directive to Achimota School to admit the students.
However, there was a sharp U-turn by the GES, as it rescinded its earlier directive to the headmistress of the Achimota School, to admit the two first-year dreadlock students
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