‘School is not a runway’ but student rights must be protected – child advocates

As Education Minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon prepares to roll out Jamaica’s long-awaited National Student Dress and Grooming Policy, a child-rights organisation is warning that rules governing students’ appearance must not come at the expense of their dignity, cultural identity and right to education.

The Fi We Children Foundation (FWCF) says the new policy must strike a balance between giving schools clear standards and ensuring that students are not subjected to arbitrary or discriminatory grooming rules.

The foundation's legal consultant, Kayla Wright, said concerns surrounding students’ hair and appearance cannot simply be dismissed with the argument that “school is not a runway”.

“For Black boys and girls, hair can be an important part of our identity, culture and self-expression,” Wright said. “Grooming standards should not force students to conform to Eurocentric ideas of appearance, or undermine their dignity.”

Her comments come after Morris Dixon again stressed the importance of students following school rules.

Speaking at the Jamaica Teachers’ Association’s 62nd annual conference in Trelawny, the education minister said the revised policy would require schools to clearly set out their grooming standards in writing and ensure parents are aware of the rules.

“The national student dress and grooming policy is very important. I note, and I have said this before, that school is not a runway, because you go to school to learn,” Morris Dixon said.

“If you have a rule around uniform, that’s the rule; and if the rule is that your hair is low cut, your hair is to be low cut.”

But Wright argued that simply having a rule and applying it consistently does not automatically make it fair.

“Students should follow reasonable school rules. But ‘rules are rules’ cannot justify requirements that are arbitrary, discriminatory or disproportionate,” she said.

The FWCF is also cautioning against punishments that could deny children access to education or major school milestones because of disputes over grooming.

Wright argued that students should not be barred from classes, removed from school or prevented from participating in events such as graduation because of subjective requirements surrounding their appearance.

Hair and grooming rules have long been a source of controversy in Jamaican schools, particularly in cases involving hairstyles such as dreadlocks, which some students and parents say are connected to cultural identity and religious beliefs.

The FWCF says the revised national policy presents an opportunity to finally bring greater clarity to an issue that has sparked years of debate.

“As we await the revised national student dress and grooming policy, the Fi We Children Foundation urges that students’ rights to education, dignity, expression and cultural identity remain central,” Wright said.

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