‘Hair boycott’ at Kavango Region school cut short

SINZOGORO – The more than 280 girls who boycotted classes at the Leevi Hakusembe Secondary School in the Kavango Region on Monday, because of a ban on long hair, resumed classes yesterday.

The girls were unhappy about the school’s decision to ban female pupils from growing long hair. A school management decision of 2006 stipulates that girls at the school are not allowed to wear long hair.According to the management, the girls apparently spent more time beautifying their hair rather than concentrating on their schoolwork.This they alleged contributed to the high failure rate among girls at the school.About 99 girls were sent home and ordered to cut off their long hair.On Monday, the group of female pupils carried placards reading ‘No hair, No school’, and claimed that they could see no reason for the ban.They said long hair did not have any negative impact on their academic performance.School principal Alexander Kudumo confirmed to Nampa yesterday that the pupils had returned to class after a short meeting with them on Tuesday.The principal said the school board planned to hold a meeting with the pupils and their parents soon to iron out the issue.The Leevi Hakusembe Secondary School is located some 40 km west of Rundu, and has about 683 pupils.NampaA school management decision of 2006 stipulates that girls at the school are not allowed to wear long hair.According to the management, the girls apparently spent more time beautifying their hair rather than concentrating on their schoolwork.This they alleged contributed to the high failure rate among girls at the school.About 99 girls were sent home and ordered to cut off their long hair.On Monday, the group of female pupils carried placards reading ‘No hair, No school’, and claimed that they could see no reason for the ban.They said long hair did not have any negative impact on their academic performance.School principal Alexander Kudumo confirmed to Nampa yesterday that the pupils had returned to class after a short meeting with them on Tuesday.The principal said the school board planned to hold a meeting with the pupils and their parents soon to iron out the issue.The Leevi Hakusembe Secondary School is located some 40 km west of Rundu, and has about 683 pupils.Nampa