Schools and minority pupils’ hair styles

The EHRC has said school uniform and appearance policies that ban certain hairstyles without allowing for exceptions on racial and religious grounds are likely to be unlawful.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is therefore recommending that school governors and trustees review their policies and practices to ensure that no pupil is at a disadvantage because of their race, religion or any other protected characteristic.

According to the EHRC, discrimination ranges from describing someone’s hairstyle as inappropriate or exotic, through to bullying and bans on certain hairstyles. Many of the children affected complain their schools lack understanding about afro hair and the care it needs.

The new EHRC guidance, which is non-statutory and applies to schools in England, Scotland and Wales, says: “Indirect discrimination can happen when a school applies an apparently neutral policy or practice that puts pupils sharing a protected characteristic (for example, race) at a disadvantage compared to pupils who don’t share that characteristic. Such policies are likely to be indirectly discriminatory unless the school can show the policy is objectively justified as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.”

In 2020, the EHRC successfully funded the legal case of Ruby Williams who was repeatedly sent home from school because of her Afro hair.

These resources include:

• Guidance on stopping hair discrimination, with practical examples for schools on when a policy may be discriminatory, based on real-life experiences
• A decision-making tool to help school leaders to draft and review their policies
• An animated video to raise awareness of indirect race discrimination in schools and what should be done to prevent it.