While we respect your child's individuality and need for personal expression, it is important to maintain the rules and regulations set down by the institution." He told Van Zyl that the school was allowing Isaac to attend class this term to complete his exams, adding that "disregarding the cleanliness requirement in the new term will not be tolerated". "We are calling on you to seriously look at this matter and consider the consequences if he doesn't follow the rules." But on Friday, Watt made a Uturn, saying the school will allow Isaac back. This was after the Sunday Times emailed an inquiry to the education department on Wednesday which triggered the investigation. Watt told the Sunday Times: "The department had a discussion with us and we will allow him back, making an exception on grounds of his identity related to his father." Asked what he meant, he said: "His father is Rastafarian and, even though he is not, his identity is related to his father's identity." Isaac is adamant he will not remove his cornrows because "I have had it from the time I was a child". "It is a part of who I am; it's my identity. My father is a Rastafarian, but I am not." His mother said the governing body was discriminating against her son. "The teachers did not have a problem with his hair at primary school," she added. Andre Gaum, a commissioner at the South African Human Rights Commission, said the ban would have been "unconstitutional and a violation of the learner's right to human dignity and the right to basic education". "The commission will take its own initiative to deal with this matter urgently. The school will soon hear from the commission," Gaum said. "The commission has already developed a model code of conduct for schools and is consulting various stakeholders, including the department of basic education DBE , on this matter. "We are working towards an official DBE model code of conduct for schools." Yolisa Piliso, a candidate attorney at the Equal Education Law Centre, said the school would have violated the pupil's right to education "if they didn't allow him back into class on account of his hairstyle".

She said the school should also be mindful of how it uses the terms "neat and tidy" and "cleanliness", "considering the varied and vast cultural contexts of our country and how notions of neatness and cleanliness in hair tend to exclude cultural hairstyles such as long dreadlocks". Northern Cape education department spokesperson Geoffrey van der Merwe said a disciplinary hearing was held on April 20 and a final notice was issued to the parent on May 30. "The school declared that the learner is in breach of its code of conduct and this necessitated them to take action. The code of conduct developed by individual schools and governing bodies cannot supersede the constitutional basic right of learners." Van der Merwe said the decision by the governing body to reverse its decision came about after its district office held discussions with the school. Responding to a parliamentary question last month, basic education minister Angie Motshekga said the department condemned schools that "have grown intolerant of black learners keeping their Afro hair to a point of even cutting learners' hair". She was referring to an incident at Endlozana Primary School in Kwallongoma in KwaZuluNatal in which a teacher forcibly cut the hair of a pupil who attends the Nazareth Church.

Source: Sunday Times