The mother of one of the Rastafarian students rejected by Achimota Senior High School, Maanaa Myers, has disclosed that her son has had to receive psychological help from the 37 military hospital after he was refused admission by the Achimota School.
Maana Myers’ son was among two Rastafarian students who were refused admission by the Achimota School because their dreadlocks were in violation of the school’s rules and regulation.
But Maana in an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show has revealed that after the incident, her son has not been the same as she has known him.
She explains: “To be very honest he is depressed. He is a hearty child but from the time we went to the school, somewhere in the process of picking the admission, a teacher had made a comment that ‘your hair is not accepted here’ or a similar comment to that. The teacher said it to him and from when we came, he wasn’t eating, he wasn’t sleeping as well. He will pace around going up and down”.
She continued that at first, she thought he was just engaged with his phone but she came to realize that it was really affecting him when he would stand in front of the mirror about twenty times a day, often questioning how he will look if he took his dreadlocks off.
“I asked him why is he pacing around and sleeping around 2am and 3am and he said he can’t sleep. And I asked what was the problem and he said he is just imagining himself without his hair and why can’t they [Achimota School] allow him? He just kept asking. So, we had to even take him to a psychologist at 37 because it was really getting bad”.
Background
The issue of Rastafarians made waves in the media as two Rastafarian students were denied admission at the Achimota School on their first day after reporting in dreadlocks.
Subsequently, the Ghana Education Service directed the School to admit these students as the Director-General of the GES, Prof. Kwasi-Opoku Amankwa stated in an interview that no school can deny students admission on the basis of their religion.
However, the GES has made a U-Turn by rescinding its earlier decision while throwing its support to Achimota School for refusing to admit Rastafarian students.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah
