The Ministry of Education (MoE) says the matter of what can or cannot be worn in schools will be taken to Cabinet for a decision to be made.
The ministry issued a press release following a statement by the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha (GHDS) that a boy on the West Coast of Demerara was made to remove his rakhi by a senior educator of a school there.
The Ministry refuted claims made by the GHDS – headed by Minister of Human Services, Dr Vindhya Persaud, regarding alleged policy changes in schools related to what can and cannot be worn by students.
The ministry clarified that there is no rule against the wearing of a rakhi, a sacred symbol in Hinduism of sibling bonding, in schools.
In a Facebook post yesterday, GHDS expressed concern over perceived changes in the dress-code policy of schools that could potentially restrict the wearing of a rakhi. Stabroek News reached out to GHDS for details but received no response.
Reference was made to a recent incident where a child was asked to remove his rakhi by a senior educator at a school on the West Coast of Demerara. The Sabha saw this as discriminatory.
“Hindus routinely wear a Raksha sutra (protective thread) on their wrists, the rakhi being one such that would have been placed on the wrist in a prayerful manner. To ask a Hindu parent to write for permission for their child to wear the Raksha sutra/rakhi is a discriminatory practice and must be addressed now.” the post stated.
The Ministry of Education in response to this allegation, branded it as a misrepresentation and emphasised that there have been no changes to existing school dress-code policies, while noting that rules were made on these issues by individual schools. Moreover, the Ministry took the opportunity to indicate that no child can be sent home for any perceived or real breach of any individual school’s hairstyle code.
“There is no allegation or at least none has come to the attention of the Minis-try that any child was sent home for wearing a Rakhi. The issues are therefore different. The Ministry would have no difficulty instructing that no child is to be sent home for wearing a Rakhi if that were ever to be an issue.”
In a separate post on Facebook, Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand stated, “ The Ministry of Education does not have rules about whether a Rakhi can be worn or not worn, what hairstyles a student can or cannot wear, whether a student can wear a fine bottom pants or a bell bottom pants or an ‘A’ line skirt or straight, ‘hugging’ skirt, etc. Schools make their own rules…”
She further encouraged schools to be sensible and conscious as those rules are being made and to revise where necessary. The minister pleaded for the involvement of parents and the student body when rules are being made or revised and for all to be cognizant of the main reason schools exist: for teaching and learning, always with the paramount consideration of acting in the best interest of the students they accommodate daily. She encouraged them to engage with school administrators and teachers to ensure that cultural and religious practices are accommodated and respected.
According to a press release from the Ministry, the decision of what can and cannot be worn in schools will be taken to the cabinet by the Minister of Education.
The Ministry called for “steady heads in resolving issues and arriving at more enlightened positions on matters that are and can be emotive”.
