Ministry, stakeholders to meet in July for school hair policy talks

REPRESENTATIVES from the Education Ministry, as well as its stakeholders, will meet on July 6 to discuss issues surrounding policies for hairstyles at schools.

Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly confirmed this to Newsday on Thursday.

This follows a recent controversy where some students from Trinity College, Moka, were not allowed to cross the stage and collect their certificate with their classmates during their graduation.

Form five and six students of the Maraval-based Anglican school graduated at the All Saints Anglican Church, Port of Spain on Tuesday.

A Facebook post by the relative of one of the students has since gone viral, in which she claimed several male students were "segregated."

The post is accompanied by a photo showing the hairstyles of the students, which included plaits, canerows and short curls.

The school's rules and guidelines booklet says students' hair must be "worn short, neat and appropriate for school as determined by the college."

Many people have since slammed the school for the incident.

Gadsby-Dolly also took to Facebook to say the incident was unfortunate and regrettable. But she added that "societal order depends on rule-keeping."

She said a critical conversation has arisen from this issue, "which speaks to the standardisation of the rules and removal of subjectivity which surrounds school hairstyles, especially for male students.

"The time for this conversation in TT has come, and decisions will be taken for implementation in the upcoming academic year, based on the Ministry of Education's discussions with our valued stakeholders."

Asked for a timeline for these discussions, Gadsby-Dolly told Newsday: "The (ministry) has already sent invitations to stakeholders for a meeting on Thursday July 6, 2023, to discuss the issue and some initial proposals."

In addition, president of the school's PTA, Jewel Thomas, told Newsday the association will meet on Thursday evening to discuss the incident and the way forward.

She said, "We are looking to use it as an opportunity for constructive dialogue moving forward with all school stakeholders."

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