Education Ministry: no room for long hair in schools

THE EDUCATION Ministry said yesterday there was no room for hippies in schools, after the near expulsion of a long-haired student from a lyceum earlier this year.

Andreas Schinis, an inspector for secondary education at the Ministry of Education, said: “Why shouldn’t teachers be preoccupied with hair? Are we going to let male students come into the classroom with hair down to their waist?”

The parents of the straight-As student had his case taken to Ombudswoman Eliana Nicolaou earlier this year, following allegations of repeated nagging from his teachers at the lyceum.

But Schinis said that while teachers were urged to “give pupils a chance” to appear well-groomed and presentable, there were limits to what was acceptable within the classroom.

“Our aim is for students to be self-disciplined. Wearing a uniform is to this end. Pupils should be able to judge for themselves though – we can’t go around with a ruler measuring hair-length.”

The inspector also said that there was a possibility the laws would have to be changed so they were less open to interpretation in future.

In a report on the case, Nicolaou said that what constituted “excesses” in appearance was dependent on each school’s individual interpretation: “It is left to the discretion of the school to decide to what extent “proper” appearance has been fulfilled or not by a student.”

“I am troubled by the extent to which hair-length can be identified with discipline,” Nicolaou added.

“This student was top of his class and his general behaviour was not a cause for concern to the school,” she concluded.

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