Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights
A Rastafarian boy was finally able to start high school yesterday, a week later than his Grade 8 classmates, after a row about his dreadlocks. Azania Stofile says he was barred from Bulumko Secondary in Khayelitsha after a teacher told him last week that "boys were not allowed to wear long hair".The school admitted Azania after a meeting of the governing body and a protest yesterday by the Rastafarian United Front.Principal Gideon Skweyiya refused to speak to The Times, but Western Cape education department spokesman Jessica Shelver said it was not the first such case the department has dealt with.She said Azania had told Skweyiya that he had been threatened by other pupils because he was a Rastafarian."According to the principal he discussed the matter with the boy's parents, who agreed to withdraw the learner for a few days for the boy's safety while he dealt with the issue."The district director instructed the principal to act against any teacher who showed intolerance towards the learner."..
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