Cape Town – A 13-year-old student has reportedly been prevented from attending Crowthorne Christian Academy in Midrand, Johannesburg, apparently due to her dreadlocks violating the school’s new hair policy.
The incident, captured on video that surfaced on social media on Tuesday, showed the student and her mother being forcibly removed from the classroom by a school official.
The school’s policy only allows natural hair and prohibits hair extensions.
According to Times Live, the student’s mother said that her daughter had initially attended school with natural hair tied in a bun, but after a change in the school’s policy, she decided to reinstall her natural dreadlocks, which she had grown from a young age.
“My daughter used to go to school with her natural Afro tied in a bun and she’d sometimes do braids or I would plait her natural hair.
“But since the rules changed, I decided to reinstall her natural dreadlocks which I had kept from when she had dreadlocks as a child. This was during the school holidays, and I noticed her afro was getting damaged because she could no longer do braids so I installed her dreadlocks,” the report quoted the mother as saying.
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The school contacted the mother, complaining that the dreadlocks weren’t tied neatly, and later instructed the student not to return if her dreadlocks remained intact, the report said.
When the mother and student arrived at the school, the principal’s husband forcefully removed the student from the classroom, leading to a physical altercation between the mother and the husband, the report said.
The mother filed a common assault case against the husband and planned to complain to the Human Rights Commission.
The Gauteng department of education revealed that the school was operating illegally, Sowetan Live reported.
While the department offered alternative schooling and counseling for the student, the parents were uncertain whether to keep her at the school or transfer her elsewhere.
“It must be noted that the said school is illegally operating and the learner was offered alternative schooling and counselling by the GDE [Gauteng department of education]. We are assisting the school to comply and encourage all unregistered institutions to engage with the department for assistance with registration processes,” the report quoted Education spokesperson Steve Mabona as saying.
The school follows a curriculum different from the South African standard, which posed challenges for finding an alternative, the report said.
Police spokesperson Col Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi has confirmed that a case of common assault has been opened, said the report.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
