Your directive to Achimota School is too harsh - Prof. Joseph Osafo tells GES

Senior Psychologist, Prof. Joseph Osafo has registered his displeasure with the Ghana Education Service (GES) directive to Achimota Senior High School to admit two first-year students with dreadlocks who were posted there under the Computer School Placement System (CSSPS).

The authorities of the school denied admission to the two students, according to the rules of the school which prohibit students with dreadlocks to be admitted.

Father of one of the students took to Facebook to vehemently protest the decision of the school.

He generated discussions on social media with people engaging in heated arguments over the issue.

The issue was brought before the Ghana Education Service (GES) and, in response, has directed the Headmistress of the school to admit the two students.

“We have asked her [headmistress] to admit the students. The student is a Rastafarian and if there is evidence to show that he is Rastafarian, all that he needs to do is to tie the hair neatly.

". . you cannot say that you will not admit someone on the basis of the person's religious beliefs and so, we have asked the head to allow the children to be in the school,” the Director-General of the GES, Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa maintained.

But Prof. Joseph Osafo has expressed dissenting views over the GES directive.

Speaking on Peace FM's morning show ''Kokrokoo'', he argued that the parents of the students adequately understood the rules of the school before sending their children there and so expected them to have acted accordingly.

He noted that the GES directive is a slap on the face of Achimota SHS, stressing the school has been unfairly treated.

"I think the GES intervention is too raw. It's harsh . . . The GES should engage first. The person and the school should be part of the engagement''.

To him, GES is setting a precedent which will have future consequences.

"If we're not careful and we bow to individual demands, others will join. That's where the challenge is . . . If the school has its rules, I think that to give an order like that is a problem."