The General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Thomas Musah, has intimated that school rules must be obeyed, therefore the students must follow the laid down rules by the school.
He explained that the rules and regulations of the school are in good shape, thus “The justices of our courts, parliamentarians,… everybody has gone through. So once the system is not broken, why fix it?
“We think the status quo is good in helping children. So our position is that if the rules are not broken, don’t fix it,” he said.
His comment comes on the back of the issues surrounding two first-year Rastafarian students who were rejected by the Authorities of Achimota Senior High School on the account of their dreadlocked hair.
Mr Musah speaking in an interview on Joy News’ AM Show said “school authorities shouldn’t just stand up and grant exemptions to people without any record.”
“Let’s be mindful here, if any child, for any reason should be treated out of the rule, the parents must report it, it is the duty of the parent to bring sane to the attention of the management of the school with evidence and I repeat with evidence and whiles that is done, that can be kept on the person’s record in case anybody comes to challenge the School, the School can produce that particular record as the basis on which the person is treated the way he is treated and not because the person is granted a particular exemption from the rule because of any other reason.
“The reason evidence is provided is because of article 17 of the constitution so that nobody can come and claim why someone has been treated a particular way and the other not,” he added.
According to Mr Musah, GNAT would respect and abide by the Court’s judgement, should the issue go to Court.
“I believe the Supreme Court will look at it, look at the merit and demerit and let us all be mindful of the effect of this particular thing on future generations and the upbringing and training of our children in our schools. Whatever the Supreme Court would say, we will abide by it,” he indicated.
Source: Myjoyonline.com