Presidential Staffer and former General Secretary of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Nana Yaa Jantuah, has weighed in on the controversy surrounding the student hair policy.
According to her, the policy needs to be revisited, as allowing students to grow their hair could serve as an avenue to help address unemployment.
Speaking in an interview on UTV on October 29, 2025, Jantuah explained that it could create job opportunities for people if students are permitted to keep their long hair.
She stated that salons could be set up in schools under strict supervision, where female students could go to have their hair neatly braided.
“It [growing of hair] can even create jobs for some people. They can set up [saloons] at the house mistress’ house under supervision. We have ways of doing some of these things. Two people can set up small salons to be braiding hair,” she explained.
To buttress her point, Jantuah drew on her experience during her secondary school days.
She recounted that, at the time, some of the students braided each other’s hair, dismissing concerns that long hair could be a distraction to students.
She also shared that cutting women’s hair poses serious risks to their mental state by causing psychological trauma.
“Those days in Form five, we used to braid hair of those in the sixth form in the dormitory. Didn’t these same people not further to the tertiary level? … It even helps you to learn a skill. Some of these student braiders went on to become great hairdressers.
“Hair is the human right of a woman, and from a very tender age, we cherish it. Nobody has asked us about the psychological trauma we go through when our hair is cut. Sometimes, when hair is cut, you tend to lose interest in learning because you feel something has left you. I am talking about my own experience,” she added.
She has, therefore, called for a review of the policy instituted by the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu.
The minister warned that students with long hairstyles will not be tolerated in Senior High Schools (SHS), insisting that discipline and proper grooming remain non-negotiable.
He made these comments while delivering a speech during Mawuli Senior High School’s 75th Anniversary on Saturday, October 25, 2025.
“There is an ongoing debate on social media about haircuts, hairstyles, and hair lengths in secondary schools. We will not tolerate it today. We will not tolerate it tomorrow. And so long as we are molding character, if we give in to hair today, tomorrow it will be shoes, and the next day, it will be the way they dress.
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“Therefore, as part of our disciplinary measures, headmasters and GES, you are accordingly empowered to take full control of how students behave on your campuses. So, anybody who thinks that your child will walk into any institution of learning as if that child, forgive my words, was to attend a beauty contest,” he said.
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