Minister of Education, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, has cautioned that the education sector will not tolerate any form of indiscipline in schools, especially concerning unapproved hairstyles and inappropriate dress codes.
Speaking at the 75th anniversary celebration of Mawuli School in Ho, under the theme “Empowering the Head, Heart and Hand into the Future,” the Minister emphasized that strict adherence to school rules and regulations remains essential to maintaining discipline and academic excellence.
His remarks come in response to a renewed debate on social media following a viral video showing a newly admitted student of Yaa Asantewaa Girls’ Senior High School having her hair cut to comply with the low-cut hair policy enforced in public pre-tertiary institutions.
“There is an ongoing debate on social media about haircuts and the size and length of hair in secondary schools. We will not tolerate it today; we will not tolerate it tomorrow in so long as we are moulding character. If we give it 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 the Ghana Education Service, you are accordingly empowered to take full control of how students behave on your campuses. To 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, the school environment is not for that purpose and is not cut for that purpose and, we will not tolerate that as an institution,” he said.
Mr Iddrisu highlighted the importance of an education system that fosters discipline, compassion, empathy, and integrity, preparing students for a competitive world and said Mawuli School and any other school in the country should be seen doing just that.
“There is a lot of growing indiscipline in our schools, some even with teachers abusing learners. We would not accept that. We would apply heavy sanctions to any teacher who wants to take advantage of a learner. And to the students, you only can walk away from Mawuli School with two values, discipline and integrity and the future is yours to shape.”
He commended the school for the remarkable and extraordinary contribution it made to the political, social, and economic development of the country, saying Mawuli School produced gallant men and women who are shaping diverse areas of Ghana’s national development.
The Minister who was led earlier by Mr James Gunu, Volta Regional Minister to cut sod for the construction of a 650-capacity dormitory for the school assured of government’s commitment to supporting educational infrastructure including the dedication of an amount of GHC300 million into the 2026 Budget to upgrade various schools.
He noted the current administration recognised the collaborative role of the church and the strong relationship between the Church and the state in the provision of education and thanked the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana (EPCG) particularly, for Mawuli School.
Rt. Rev Dr Lt. Col. Bliss Divine Agbeko (Rtd), Moderator of the General Assembly of the EPCG said the 75th anniversary marked a significant milestone in the school’s life, a testament of God’ grace and encouraged the school to reflect on the rich legacy it inherited and to continue striving towards even greater heights with “true loyalty to our Christian values and ethics as a mission school of the EPCG.”
The week-long celebration which climax Saturday was chaired by Togbe Afede XIV, the Agbogbomefia of Asogli and had representatives of sister schools in the region in attendance, was well attended by the alumni of the school, most of whom are very distinguished individuals including the Chief of Army Staff, Minister of Roads and Highways, Ambassadors, and Members of Parliament.
Mawuli (meaning God Lives in Ewe) School which was established by the EPCG under the visionary leadership of Rev Dr C.W. Armstrong – a Canadian missionary in 1950, stands as one of Ghana’s most respected second-cycle institutions, located in Ho to provide holistic education grounded in discipline, faith, and academic excellence.
Credit: GNA
