Malawi: Court Allows Rastafarian Children In Dreadlocks To Attend Public Schools

By Joseph Dumbula.

A High Court in Malawi has directed the Ministry of Education to allow students with dreadlocks to be enrolled in public schools in the Southern African nation.

This puts to rest a heightened court case which has kept attracting public interest both locally and internationally.

The Center for Human Rights Education Advice and Assistance (CHREAA) and the Rastafarian community applied for a judicial review of the case after two Rastafarian children were denied admission to public schools in 2010 and 2016, respectively, for sporting dreadlocks.

Earlier on, the office of the Attorney General applied to the court to discontinue the case saying there was no said policy that bars dreadlocked children in schools.

Rastafarianism is an Abrahamic religion from Jamaica that stresses living what they regard as natural, including their hair.

However, Malawi's Rastafarians have long been sidelined by education policies requiring students to cut their hair to promote what they describe as uniformity among students, forcing some Rastafarian parents to choose private schools.

But after so many years, the court Zomba through Judge Zione Ntaba made an order that the Ministry of education must now issue a circular by June 30, announcing the removal of restrictions barring Rastafarian learners from attending public schools.

In June 2020, a similar case was ruled upon by a Kenyan court, which also barred schools from turning away Rastafari learners with Ghana being the first African nation to make such a ruling as well.

Meanwhile, human rights lawyer Chikondi Chijozi has said their view is that the ruling is monumental in striking a balance between beliefs and human rights.