And we also asked the new Minister of Education about the issue at Anglican Cathedral College where, once again, students were sent home because of their haircut. It's a recurring issue and the previous minister repeatedly stated that schools cannot send children home due to what they would deem as improper hairstyles. In this case, it was male students who had tightly tapered haircuts.
While Requena wasn't fully briefed on the matter, he said they have to work more closely with the schools.
Oscar Requena, Minister of Education, Science & Technology
"I am not fully aware of it, I did hear something to that effect."
Courtney Menzies:
"I know that the Ministry has set that rule already that you can't send kids home for their haircuts or for minor reasons like that so is the Ministry dialoguing with ACC to try and figure out what happened?"
Oscar Requena, Minister of Education, Science & Technology
"First of all we need to establish and find out exactly what transpired. But really the policies are clear. We want, in as much as we understand and appreciate that institutions have their own rules and regulations we also have to understand that the rules and regulations cannot infringe on the rights of individuals."
Courtney Menzies:
"But it seems like schools aren't adhering to this policy."
Oscar Requena, Minister of Education, Science & Technology
"Well, we need to do more work on that. We need to certainly reach out more to the schools and to sensitize them."
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