#BTColumn – Reflections on National Grooming Policy for schools in Barbados

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

In a previous column in Saint Lucia, entitled Black Hair Matters I addressed the vexing issue of hair policies in our schools, and the need for the Caribbean to adopt school grooming policies that reflect the lived realities of our peoples. This was after a young man who would not cover his hair was denied entry into the Saint Mary’s College in Saint Lucia. 

It is therefore still worthy after so many decades of this vexing issue, the incomprehensible Jamaican judicial decision in Virgo, discrimination within other schools across the region and the continued attempts being made across the Caribbean by pressure groups to interrogate the recent National Grooming Policy published by the Ministry of Education in Barbados for the upcoming semester, circulated via the Government Information Service (GIS). 

While the National Grooming Policy is focused on the broader requirements for the entire uniform, the major areas of contention where we need to be vigilant and assess continue to be the manner in which it treats the issue of hair. 

It is a strident fact that while these rules seem impartial and fair on their face, their application is discriminatory against black students who do not fit the somatic norm image of tidy hair and beauty associated with their white counterparts. If it ain’t straight, it ain’t appropriate. Implicit within these rules is an attempt to police black hair and, by extension, students, and deny them freedom to express themselves through their hair. 

There seems to be an overarching view that if black hair is to be expressed in our public institutions, it needs to be tamed for fear of ‘distracting’ other students. It is always baffling the meanings adduced to distraction, and whose hair cannot be distracting within our public institutions. But, somehow, these assertions are always made without any empirical evidence of the supposed distracting nature of black hair in schools, and even if it exists, there hasn’t been any interrogation of why students or other stakeholders believe that black hair in particular is distracting. 

Over time, our government officials, school administrators and other stakeholders have painstakingly, yet unconvincingly, attempted to convince the public that these rules are meant to apply to everyone, irrespective of their race, class, social status, among other criteria. 

Contrary results may be shown if one analyses, school by school, the students whose hair seems to be regarded as dirty or untidy. It will also be interesting to see any data from the Ministry or other agencies of the social classes of students who continue to be affected by these hair grooming policies. While data on this area seems to be rarely available, all one has to do to confirm the assertions above is randomly ask those who fit the somatic norm image of beauty among us whether they have been asked for their hair to be trimmed or any of the other suggestions by school administrators. It would not be surprising the results that you find, because these students are rarely, if ever, asked to comply with these ‘universal’ rules because of how their hair is perceived. 

Of course, the arguments presented against these assertions continue to be steeped in the view that it instills discipline and that such discipline is needed for the world of work and academic success. However, there has been little to no empirical evidence to substantiate these assertions, and quite to the contrary, there exist many examples of ‘unacceptable’ hair types which continue to be successful in the world of work and academic success. 

It would be interesting to find out whether Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s afro would be accepted if she were within any of these institutions. Isn’t she someone of academic and political success? It is even more interesting to recognise the glaring omission of afros from the accepted lists, and more so the cautious approach taken by the Ministry to not name any common hair styles which would be accepted or prohibited. One cannot say for certain whether or not it falls within the prohibited hairstyles within this overly vague National Grooming Policy. 

Cognisant of the patterns of hairstyles associated with the majority of our students, the Ministry of Education, if they wanted to be reflective of the will of students, could have taken inspiration from the Minister of Education in Anguilla, Hon. Dee-Ann Kentish Rogers, who introduced a revised National Code of Discipline to exclusively permit and state, that “braids, locs, twists, weaves, wigs, cornrows, and other extensions may be worn by girls, but if they pass shoulder length must be tied up and further that locs, twists, afros, cornrows are permitted for boys”. Albeit, it would have been progressive to include afros, amidst the accepted hairstyles for girls in schools. It is hoped that in further iterations of this policy, it can be included. However, Anguilla’s expansive model is a step in the right direction. Our regional institutions, through their education portfolios, need to address these and work towards responses and policies.  

Instead, the only indication we get from the Barbados National Grooming Policy of what is accepted is where it notes that “hair extensions are allowed but must not be elaborate and should be neatly groomed”. Time will tell the definition, scope and application of hair extensions within our schools. Moreover, it would be interesting to find out whether all types of natural hair styles are accepted in our schools, recognising the broad nature of the grooming policies and the discretion given to the respective schools to determine the contours of this policy.

What continues to be even more alarming is our overreliance on personalities and not institutions to determine the definition of tidy and untidy and sanction students who do not comply with the innate self-contempt of our school administrators. One must wonder why, as part of our decolonisation process and emancipating ourselves from mental slavery, that we have not interrogated or trained our officials on acknowledging their ‘implicit biases’ so they can leave them at the colonial doors when teaching freed children in 2023. 

There is a certain level of discomfort we should all have when we assess the wide discretion which our school administrators have when determining the nature and scope of ‘neatly groomed, tidy, neat and simple’. While the ability to objectively determine the definitions and scope of these criterions is a herculean task, it is not enough for these to be scarified at the altar of our inbuilt stereotypes. It is for this reason, if this discretion is to be permitted under this new National Grooming Policy, it must be exercised after thorough training on our implicit biases within the education system. 

In the meantime, however, school administrators should be cognisant that, even when exercising a discretion, one must do so reasonably and cannot make decisions based on irrelevant and immaterial considerations such as the child’s performance and attitude in school, among others. The greater task would be to make these subjective considerations be accompanied by a culture of justification in order for compliance with the rules. 

The Barbados National Grooming Policy, however, attempts to subject the discretion through the possibility for exemptions, albeit on the grounds of medical and religious reasons. It further attempts to provide a process, which needs to be elaborated upon further, on how one should deal with violations of the policy. While the school administrators are provided with the right to impose sanctions on students after investigation, the possible sanctions should be spelt out in order to ensure that they are proportionate to the particular violations. Nowhere in exercising this discretion should school administrators be allowed to deny entry of students into schools for violation of this policy, as seen in other Caribbean countries. Schools should therefore take the Ministry’s encouragement, as noted in the policy, to establish a special committee to review cases of violation and complaints. Further, they should ensure that there is adequate student representation within these committees to ensure the democratisation of the education system on this matter. 

It is therefore also appealing to read of the complaints process should a student or parent believe that there are perceived discrepancies, unfair treatment or any concern regarding the administration of this policy. The only addition should be to institutionalise members of various interests’ groups, civil society and stakeholders within the education system to be part of these various committees to ensure that these resolutions are fair and reflect the interests of the society in which we live. 

The inability to confront our inner self-contempt and lack of appreciation for the various styles in which one can comb their hair, and a continued one-size-fits-all typology will continue to run afoul of our progress of self-realisation, appreciation and determination if not addressed immediately. It is therefore time for student organisations, youth councils, pressure groups and other stakeholders to rise to this occasion and put this matter up for debate and resolution. 

Moreover, it is time for our education system to provide the platforms for the voices of our students to be heard on these particular issues of interest. Our future depends on their views on these issues. It is only in imbuing our students we would be able to change the narrative of our students, from clients in our education system to partners in education. Albeit, the grooming policy has not been implemented for proper review to take place, it is important to be eternally vigilant, as it is the price of liberty! 

Rahym Augustin-Joseph is a third-year student of the UWI Cave Hill Campus from Saint Lucia reading for a double major in Political Science and Law. Rahym R. Augustin-Joseph aspires to be an attorney-at-law and is passionate about the intertwining of politics and law and its ability to transform Caribbean civilisation through the empowerment of people. These views are not affiliated with any organisation. Rahym Augustin-Joseph can be reached via rahymrjoseph9@gmail.com.