A male student with dreadlocks wearing a black shirt
The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has warned that students with long hairstyles will not be tolerated in Senior High Schools (SHS), insisting that discipline and proper grooming remain non-negotiable.
The minister made these comments while delivering a speech during Mawuli Senior High School’s 75th Anniversary on Saturday, October 25, 2025.
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In excerpts of his speech making rounds online, Haruna Iddrisu emphatically stated that the Ghana Education Service (GES) will not tolerate this act.
He explained that if the GES allows students to keep bushy hairstyles, it would pave the way for other forms of indiscipline.
“There is an ongoing debate on social media about haircuts, hairstyles, and hair lengths in secondary schools. We will not tolerate it today. We will not tolerate it tomorrow. And so long as we are molding character, if we give in to hair today, tomorrow it will be shoes, and the next day, it will be the way they dress.
"Therefore, as part of our disciplinary measures, headmasters and GES, you are accordingly empowered to take full control of how students behave on your campuses. So, anybody who thinks that your child will walk into any institution of learning as if that child, forgive my words, was to attend a beauty contest,” he said.
However, the minister’s statement has sparked widespread debates among Ghanaians on the social media platform X.
Some users expressed outrage, questioning why the country appears to be focusing on trivial matters instead of what they believe should be more pressing issues.
According to them, the ministry should rather focus on addressing issues affecting the country’s education system, drawing parallels with other advanced countries where students have long hair in schools without it affecting the education system or their academic performance.
Some critics argued that these decisions are retrogressive and outdated, and should be abolished.
We will not tolerate students with longer hairstyles - Haruna Iddrisu warns
On the other hand, some users agreed with the minister’s statement, suggesting that students having long hair could hinder their education and their levels of discipline.
They argued that school rules and regulations are designed to maintain discipline and urged those who disagree with the minister’s remarks to consider enrolling their children in alternative schools that permit such practices.
Read some of the posts below:
We have all these useless standards about how people should appear in school, driven by ideas of moral uprightness, yet our society remains corrupt and morally bankrupt. What exactly does the length of a student’s hair have to do with anything? How does it affect learning… https://t.co/UKy8f7ZTvW
— Alfred (@CallmeAlfredo) October 26, 2025
-Keeping hair short has not deterred pedophilic tutors from taking advantage
— #gioVinco® (@VincoAfro) October 26, 2025
-keeping hair short has no direct influence in moral discipline
-keeping hair long doesn't equate school to beauty contest
-we are still in deep in colonial and religious mindset https://t.co/mYpfnwuhh0 pic.twitter.com/VAz4VVUhVG
Hon Haruna,
Instead of this, here are a few things I suggest should occupy you:1. How about you make every district select bright students who are completing SHS, camp and train them and send them to their localities to fill the spaces based on matching of their strengths… https://t.co/iY6vGuWAcs
— SOCIAL CHANGE & DATA (@dermyMarlkson) October 26, 2025
taking a strong stand on hair and saying they should take control of how students behave but nobody has stopped bullying in high schools. it’s really infuriating. https://t.co/oCDyD5tXEG
— tonton fii (@prenomfiifi) October 26, 2025
With due respect, Schools exist to develop intellect, creativity, and self-esteem, not to regulate personal identity. Enforcing strict hair rules distracts from core academic outcomes. True discipline builds character, not conformity. https://t.co/6URjnG51BM
— Banguu Delle (@BanguuDelle) October 26, 2025
Idk man. It's interesting how many of us think young children can't have hair and still have regulations. Fellow Ghanaians, not everything must be black and white.
— κ.ay bOBo (@AhKelvyn) October 27, 2025
A consensus can still be reached about this discourse. Why do we need to be at extreme ends of this topic? https://t.co/kVqQn554g6
There are so many things needed to be done to help boarding schools get better and students hair length is not part of them, in anyway at all. https://t.co/ehOBzhqOZO
— Gates_fk (@kwabenaFordjour) October 26, 2025
You guys should put your emotions aside for once. Even some of you ladies at these your big ages find it difficult taking care of your long hairs. How do you expect 13-14 year olds to without their parents?
Next we know, you guys will be complaining about uniforms and others https://t.co/b1skPMiqg3
— ĆÆŚĄR🔰🇬🇭 (@__Indisputable_) October 26, 2025
Whether you like it or not he has said it, if you have a problem with it then let ur child stay at home then she or he can do whatever they want. Period! https://t.co/LK2RVBPtI5
— Youngers (@Youngerz10) October 26, 2025
THAT is the problem right there but let be stupid and disagree with the minister. Let’s just allow one lady to braid the hair and send it to high school and see the chaos it will bring among them. Worst is mothers will make it a competition for their daughters. https://t.co/Qmb1HI0hD6
— xMEDIABYTE (@xMediaByte) October 26, 2025
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