High Court to rule on pupil with dreadlocks

A six-year-old boy kicked out of school for having dreadlocks will know his fate in two weeks' time, when the High Court determines whether he should be readmitted.

High Court Judge Justice Mumbi Ngugi said yesterday that she would give her judgement on the matter on October 7.

Rusinga School suspended the boy at the beginning of third term after his mother refused to get rid of his dreadlocks. The school said it had issued the parent with a notice, whereby she had signed an agreement to abide to the school rules.

But the boy's mother asked the court to compel the school to readmit the boy without having to get rid of the locks. She accused the school of violating her son's constitutional rights by discriminating against him. The parent maintained that the dreadlocks are part of the Jamaican heritage since the boy's father is a Jamaican.

However, the school administration through its lawyer further maintained that being a rastafarian is not part of the Jamaican culture, adding that they base their regulations on Christian values.