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By ANDILE NSIBANDE | 2021-10-11
Lubulini PARENTS of pupils at Lubulini High School were left shocked after their children embarked on a walkout protest during a meeting meant to discuss their grievances. The drama unfolded on Friday after the chairperson of the school committee refused to entertain the demand for the administration to allow girls to plate or wear braided hear extensions.
The school had all along been regulating hairstyles that are suitable for the pupils, with short hair preferred while fancy hairstyles were banned. But the status quo was challenged by the pupils during a recent protest, where they presented to the administration a litany of grievances, which included the fixing of the school fencing to bolster security and repairs on some dilapidated classrooms.
Also ancillary to the school-related demands, the pupils had joined the wide call for political reform in the country. The protest by the pupils about two weeks ago had forced its closure. However, as a means of restoring order, a meeting was convened between the pupils and the administration, with the parents in attendance. administration The administration had deemed it fit to include all stakeholders in order to ensure that the outcome enjoyed the ownership of all concerned.
Witnesses said the meeting started on a positive note and the parties appeared to be making headways until the school committee chairperson touched a raw nerve by refusing to entertain the issue of allowing girls to wear their preferred hairstyles. The disgruntled pupils questioned how their hairstyles affected or impacted on their school work.
It was their contention that short hair had nothing to do with performance and was not making them smarter than defiant classmates who wear braids or other fancy hairstyles. “It’s a question of preference and how one feels comfortable in a particular look. There is no way I can get smarter simply because I have cut my hair,” argued one pupil. Efforts by the chairperson to explain that the regulations were meant to inspire uniformity fell on deaf ears as the pupils immediately left their seats and started to pelt stones towards the school committee and administration.
Parents who attended the meeting could not be spared from the wrath of the irate pupils as they also found themselves caught in the cross fire. The pupils threw the stones while on their way towards the school gate, while singing struggle songs. The protest spread out to the nearby main road servicing the area, where the pupils used whatever they could lay their hands on to obstruct traffic.
Items used included logs and tyres which were burnt in the middle of the road, while others uprooted thorny trees and boulders which were all placed on the road to make it unusable. Police had to be called to control the rowdy pupils.
Teargas canisters were reportedly fired by the police to disperse the protesting learners. Meanwhile, traffic was disrupted for several hours and a front end loader had to be solicited to assist in removing the rubble to clear the road. The incident was confirmed by Lubulini Constituency Councillor Mabaso.
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