Group demands removal of Achimota School Headmistress

Civil Society Group, Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) has called on the authorities to carry out punitive measures against the Headmistress and Board of the Achimota Senior High School.

According to the Executive Director of the Group, Mensah Thompson, the Headmistress must be fired from her post and the Board dissolved for causing emotional trauma to two Rastafarian kids, who the school refused admission because they wore dreadlocks.

“Some punitive measures have to be taken against the authorities of the Achimota Senior High School. They have taken the two Rastafarian kids through some form of emotional trauma and this will have an impact on their lives forever. Our laws do not joke with the rights of children and even deem their rights a priority over that of adults as they are regarded as a vulnerable group.

We cannot allow this treatment suffered by the boys to go unpunished and call for the immediate removal of the Board and Head of the Achimota School. They have displayed the worst form of discrimination and they must face the consequences,” he championed on Happy98.9FM’s Epa Hoa Daben political talk show hosted by Don Kwabena Prah.

He noted that there is the possibility for the two boys to suffer discrimination at the hands of their colleagues and this is because of the precedent set by school authorities. “The school authorities have made it look like keeping dreads is something dangerous rather than setting an example of acceptance and peaceful coexistence. This discrimination will affect the boys’ psychology and this should not go unpunished,” he repeated.

Mensah Thompson described the judgement of the Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court, ordering Achimota School to admit the two Rastafarian students as a landmark ruling and said, “this should inform the actions of leaders in our various educational institutions. They should not feel invincible in their small offices and determine who they will admit or not.”

To him, the court ruling was a right one and has revived some confidence in the Ghanaian judicial system.

Background

Achimota School became the center of debate when it refused to admit two Rastafarian students. This saw a section of the Ghanaian public criticizing the school authorities with others standing with them.

It can be recalled that the GES rescinded its decision to allow Achimota School admit the Rastafarian students and subsequently threw its support to the school for refusing to admit the students.

In recent news, however, the Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court has ordered Achimota School to admit the two Rastafarian students, after the two sued the school’s board of Governors, the Minister of Education, Ghana Education Service and the Attorney General to enforce their fundamental Human Rights.