‘Students must follow the rules’

WESTERN BUREAU:

Ahead of the start of the September school term, Education Minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon is urging school administrators to ensure that students obey stipulated dress and grooming guidelines, while also imploring parents to encourage their children to follow the rules set by their schools.

During her keynote address at yesterday’s final day of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association’s (JTA) 62nd annual conference at the Ocean Coral Spring Resort in Trelawny, Morris Dixon said the long-awaited national student dress and grooming policy, which will provide guidelines on students’ designated school clothing and hairstyles, will soon be implemented.

“The national student dress and grooming policy is very important. I note, and I have said this before, that school is not a runway, because you go to school to learn. If you have a rule around uniform, that’s the rule; and if the rule is that your hair is low cut, your hair is to be low cut,” said Morris Dixon.

“What this national dress and grooming policy will do is codify that information. It says that a school must have its grooming policy written, and that it must share the policy with parents, so that the parents know this is what you are getting into when you go to the school, and then you implement it. You say what are the sanctions, and you stick to it,” Morris Dixon added.

The minister’s sentiment echoes similar statements she made in January 2025, when she indicated that the draft grooming policy was to be circulated among education stakeholders, including principals, student councils and the Church.

Dress and grooming policies in schools have been the subject of scrutiny and controversy over the years, with frequent complaints from parents that their children are subjected to discriminatory practices because of the length or style of their hair and the fit of their clothes. For example, dreadlock hairstyles have often been frowned upon by schools, even when students and their parents cite adherence to the Rastafarian faith as a reason for wearing the hairstyle.

However, counterarguments in favour of schools’ grooming policies cite hygiene and health concerns as reasons for enforcing bans on specific hairstyles and guidelines for uniform fittings. Proponents have also stressed that the rules help students to learn discipline alongside academics.

In September 2022, Manchester High School revised its rules to allow schoolgirls to wear hair extensions to classes, a move considered rare in the back-and-forth over grooming. However, more recently, in September 2025, St Andrew High School for Girls announced a ban on the popular ‘edges’ hairstyle, or styled baby hairs.

The Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth, and Information had previously warned school administrators against locking students out of school for dress code violations.

Morris Dixon told the conference yesterday that parents must encourage their children to abide by the rules set by their schools, instead of fighting against those rules.

“With any policy, you know you will hear from the students, you hear from the parents, and you, as administration, will come up with your policy and then circulate it. As I said, students must follow the rules, and parents must encourage children to follow the rules, because a lot of times that’s where the problem is. And so we will have zero tolerance on this, because students must wear their uniforms and must follow the rules of the school,” said Morris Dixon.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com