According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, many schools’ hair restrictions “disproportionately affect students from certain racial groups.”
Students with afro hair should not be “unfairly singled out,” according to the UK’s equality watchdog.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has stated that hair regulations that prohibit specific styles without making exceptions based on race are “likely unconstitutional.”
This includes afros, braids, cornrows, plaits, locks, and other head coverings.
The EHRC published fresh recommendations to assist schools in England, Scotland, and Wales in ensuring they do not engage in unlawful discrimination based on hair.
This policy applies to all forms of hair discrimination, but focuses primarily on race owing to “the disproportionate impact on students from certain racial groupings.”
Jackie Killeen, the EHRC’s senior regulator, stated, “Discrimination based on hair can have severe and long-lasting effects on victims and their families.”
“As Britain’s equality regulator, we want to prohibit students from being unfairly singled out in schools based on their looks.
“Because of this, and after working closely with experts and individuals directly affected, we are launching these practical resources to assist school administrators in understanding the law in this area and preventing discrimination.
“Each child deserves to be appreciated for who they are and to flourish in school without having to worry about altering their appearance to conform to a possibly discriminatory policy.”
The advisory mentions instances in which schools have been sued for their hair rules.
A judge ruled that a school’s restriction on boys wearing certain hairstyles, including cornrows, was indirectly discriminatory when a student challenged the policy.
The watchdog also cited the case of Ruby Williams, a student of mixed race who was regularly sent home due to her school’s policy against “extreme volume” afro hair.
The EHRC achieved a legally enforceable agreement with the school that stopped the policy and took ethnicity and religion into account when evaluating what constituted a “reasonable” hairdo.
L’myah Sherae, founder and chief coordinator of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for race equality in education, stated: “No child should be sent home from school for wearing natural hair, which is why our APPG wrote to the EHRC in October 2021 to emphasize the need for new, strengthened guidance.
“We want black youngsters throughout the United Kingdom to know that they may be truly proud of their identity without being punished for it.
“Therefore, I am glad that this guidance is now being published, and I am proud to have contributed to its formulation.”
