The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

WHEN St Andrew’s International School posted photographs earlier this year of its Head Boy and Deputy Head Boy wearing braids and twists, the images fuelled a familiar debate over why one of the country’s prominent private schools could allow Black boys to wear natural hairstyles while public-school students remain subject to far stricter grooming rules.

The Ministry of Education, however, has no plans to relax its standards.

As a new school year nears, Education Director Dominique McCartney-Russell defended the Ministry’s grooming policy yesterday, saying its rules — including low haircuts for boys and restrictions on extensions for girls — are intended to keep students focused on academics and promote a positive learning environment.

She confirmed there have been no discussions about changing the policy despite longstanding criticism that the rules are outdated and despite cases in which male students have been removed from classrooms because their hairstyles were deemed unacceptable.

“Those standards are in place to ensure that the focus is on the academic and not on any other issue,” Mrs McCartney-Russell said. “We believe that these standards assist with the development of a positive learning environment, and that's what we maintain for all of our 40,000 children.”

The contrasting approaches of public and some private schools were brought sharply into focus in April when St Andrew’s Facebook page posted photographs of the school’s Head Boy and Deputy Head Boy after they were nominated for the 2026 Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

Both Black male students wore their natural hair, one in braids and the other in twists.

The post had attracted more than 500 reactions and had been shared more than 100 times.

The photographs prompted commenters to question why natural hairstyles worn openly by high-achieving students at a private school remain restricted under public-school grooming policies.

One commenter said: “Proof that the hair on your head has nothing to do with what's in your head. Someone send this to them old (expletive) people who running the Ministry of Education, who need to retire and take their old miserable (expletive) home.”

Another person said: “The irony in the school that was literally established because of opposition to racial integration being one of the few schools permitting black hairstyles for black boys in The Bahamas.”

The Ministry’s policy requires male students to maintain low haircuts. Female students are not permitted to wear hair extensions unless there is a medical reason.

Mrs McCartney-Russell said the standards form part of the Ministry’s broader discipline policy and are intended to encourage order and personal responsibility.

She said students are free to wear a variety of hairstyles during the summer break and acknowledged that some find it difficult to conform to the rules when the school year approaches.

Once the necessary adjustments are made, she said, students can express their individuality in appropriate ways.

The rules have previously led to disputes between parents and school administrators.

Eyewitness News reported in September 2025 that the mother of a CC Sweeting Senior High School student complained after her son and other boys were taken out of class because of their hairstyles.

According to the report, the student had a tapered hairline, shaved sides and a fade less than an inch long, but administrators reportedly considered the boys’ hair ungroomed.

The mother took her son to a barber to ensure his hair was properly done, but told Eyewitness News she saw nothing wrong with his hairstyle and said he and other students were barred from campus until their hair met Ministry standards.

She described the dispute as a cultural stigma and pointed to other schools where students were allowed greater freedom in how they wore their hair.

Mrs McCartney-Russell said parents are generally called into meetings to discuss uniform or grooming violations rather than students being automatically sent home.

The September 2025 report also highlighted a controversial Facebook post from RM Bailey Senior High School showing a group of male students alongside an educator holding a clump of hair.

The caption read: “Excellence has a look. Pacer Chronicles. They came to school looking like hoodlums…. and after sitting in the barber’s chair… beautiful.”

The post has since been removed.

Despite the recurring disputes, comparisons with private schools and debate over whether hairstyles have any bearing on academic performance, Mrs McCartney-Russell said the Ministry’s position remains unchanged.

There have been no discussions about altering the grooming policy, she said, and the existing rules will remain in effect.