The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has firmly stated that senior high schools (SHSs) across the country will not allow students to keep long hair, even if it is natural.
Speaking at the 75th anniversary celebration of Mawuli Senior High School in the Volta Region on Saturday, October 25, Mr. Iddrisu said secondary schools are “not beauty contests” and stressed that discipline and uniformity remain essential to character formation.
“There is an ongoing debate about haircuts, and size and length of hair in secondary schools. We will not tolerate it today or we will not tolerate it tomorrow, in so long as molding character,” he said.
“If we give in to hair today, tomorrow it will be shoes, and the next day it will be the way they dress. Therefore, headmasters and the GES are empowered to take full control of how students behave on your campuses.”
The minister’s remarks come amid renewed public debate following a viral video of a first-year female student of Yaa Asantewaa Girls’ Senior High School in Kumasi who was seen crying at a barber shop while getting her long natural hair cut before reporting to school.
The video, reportedly filmed and posted online by the barber, sparked widespread reactions on social media, radio, and television, with many Ghanaians questioning whether schools should relax rules to allow students to keep natural or long hair.
Graphic Online understands that the girl’s father has since confronted the barber over the unauthorized filming and publication of the video and has threatened legal action.
The latest incident rekindled memories of the 2021 Achimota School controversy, where two first-year students were initially denied admission for wearing rasta hair, sparking a national conversation about religious freedom and school grooming policies.
At the Mawuli School event—which was also attended by the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES)—Mr. Iddrisu reiterated the government’s stance that discipline and conformity are vital to education.
“Anybody who thinks that your child will walk into any institution of learning as if that child was to attend a beauty contest should understand that the school environment is not cut for that purpose, and we will not tolerate that,” he added.
The minister’s statement reinforces the government’s commitment to maintaining discipline and uniform standards in Ghana’s secondary schools amid ongoing public debate over student appearance and personal expression.
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