Why don’t Rastafarians have their own schools in Ghana? – NAGRAT President quizzes

President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Angel Carbonu has wondered why Rastafarians do not have their own schools despite their long existence in the country.

His comment comes on the back of news reports that Achimota Senior High School rejected some students who gained admission because they were in dreadlocks.

"I don't even know why the Rastafarians don't have their own schools, because they've been in this country [Ghana] for a very long time," Mr Carbonu said.

He indicated that Achimota Senior High School authorities were not wrong to tell the students to trim their hair because they only spelt out the rules and regulations of the school to them.

“We expect that if you want to be in that school, you obey the rules and regulations. The rules and regulations of an institution are not chosen and picked by individuals, they become standard and ought to be obeyed by anyone who wants to access the school,” Mr Carbonu said.

He gave these remarks at a press conference held in Accra on Monday, March 22, 2021.

Meanwhile, the President of the Western Regional branch of the Rastafarian Council, Kwame Kwapong has explained that having dreadlocks is a symbol of priesthood and an identity that shows the fight against oppression.

“We would want to refer to ourselves as ‘Rastafari’ instead of ‘Rastafarians’. Rastafari actually has its genesis or basis from the divinity of a superior majesty emperor Haile Selassie, emperor of Ethiopia and it is on the basis of that we actually identify ourselves within the dreadlocks.

“Because the dreadlocks are a symbol of priesthood and an identity that also shows a fight against a repressive, oppressive, and a depressive kind of system that has been put in place,” he said on Y Entertainment Podium.