STATE minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Alando Terrelonge has condemned schools which are still discriminating against students with locks, noting that it is against the law and government policies.

“It is a shame that there are Jamaicans who occupy affluent positions, in particular within our school structure, who run contrary to government policy and who take their own self-hate and anti-blackness views into the public space. I don’t care if your institution is a private institution, you are giving service to the public and you must act in accordance with the rules of the land, you must act in accordance with government policy. And persons who support private schools that hold these very narrow minded, anti-personal indoctrination of self-hate views that rob our young kings and queens of their dignity and human rights, we must stop supporting them, we must shun them, and we must call them out,” he said during his speech at the closing ceremony of the GraceKennedy Jamaican Birthright Programme on Friday.

Terrelonge noted that educational institutions should look to be more inclusive of all Jamaicans — irrespective of how they look and what they believe.

“Jamaica is the country of Bob Marley, Jamaica is the country of Marcus Garvey, and we must not surrender our birthright to the myopic views of neo-colonialists who believe that there must be some shame attached to black hair or black beauty. We must shun it at every single turn! And for me, I find it most offensive that in 2024 Jamaica there are still persons that hold the view that locks or expression of black hair is somehow inappropriate or unprofessional. It is offensive,” he said.

“If we continue to deny the basic human rights of our young kings and queens, and if we continue to rob them of their dignity then we rob them of what it means to truly be Jamaican, that birthright. We rob them of the benefit of the struggles on the path to freedom that our forefathers would have fought and died for,” Terrelonge added.

He used the opportunity to remind Jamaicans of the importance of inclusitivity in all aspects of life within the professional space, noting that this is an integral focus of Jamaica’s Government.

“I stand here testament to the inclusive approach of our Government that all persons must be given a place to grow and prosper and realise their full potential in Jamaica — irrespective of religious views, irrespective of appearance, irrespective of whatever persons might think or feel. Competence is what this Government is all about,” said Terrelonge.On July 15 the Court of Appeal ruled that Kensington Primary School in St Catherine breached the constitutional rights of a female student who was denied access in 2018 after refusing to trim her dreadlocked hair. This ruling was supported by many, including Jamaica’s Culture Minister Olivia Grange who pledged to end discrimination, “by bringing to Parliament a motion to make all such discrimination illegal and, indeed, unconstitutional”.