The Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has issued a strong warning regarding inappropriate hairstyles and attire among students in secondary schools across the country. Speaking at the 75th anniversary celebration of Mawuli Senior High School in Ho on Saturday, October 25, the Minister urged the Ghana Education Service (GES) and school administrators to take full responsibility for managing student behaviour on campus. His remarks directly addressed the ongoing public debate about allowing female students to keep long hair.
“There is an ongoing debate in social media about haircuts—size and length of hairs in secondary schools; we will not tolerate it today, we will not tolerate it tomorrow so long as we are moulding character,” he warned.
Minister Iddrisu emphasised the importance of maintaining discipline for character development. He stated, “If we allow leniency today, it may lead to issues with students’ shoes tomorrow, and the way they dress the following day. Therefore, as part of our disciplinary measures, headmasters and the Ghana Education Service (GES) are empowered to take full control over student behaviour.”
The Minister, who represented Vice President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang as the special guest for the anniversary, also reiterated the government’s strong stance against teachers who engage in sexual misconduct with students, highlighting that appropriate sanctions will be enforced against offenders.
“There is a lot of growing indiscipline in our schools, some with even teachers abusing learners; we will not accept that. We will apply heavy sanctions to any teacher who wants to take advantage of a learner.” Mr. Iddrisu commended Mawuli School for its role in moulding personalities who continue to contribute to the country’s development.
He affirmed the government’s commitment to providing the necessary infrastructural support to enable the school to continue shaping the “head, hearts, and hands” of young Ghanaians. In furtherance of this pledge, the Minister cut the sod for the commencement of work on a new dormitory facility for both male and female students.
Source: Faisel Abdul-Iddrisu
