As the debate surrounding the National Grooming Policy for students continues, concerns are once again being raised over how the rules are interpreted and enforced across schools.
During an online discussion hosted by the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), the party’s education spokesperson Felicia Dujon criticised the government’s handling of the policy.
“[The policy] should have been implemented correctly. We have a problem where this government does not implement those kinds of policies in a way that it touches the lives of our students. We also have to take into consideration that our students are individuals, human beings, and they have identities,” she said.
Dujon said the policy was clear and she saw no need to review it.
“It outlines what is expected of students,” she said. “It’s [well] articulated and it provides guidance for school administrators. So that argument that we are seeing in the public is really a distraction as far as I’m concerned because we all know that our children must attend classes in a presentable [way].”
Teacher and trade unionist Dwayne Goddard was blunt in his criticism of some parents who, he believes, are projecting their personal ideals onto their children, which is leading to problems of deportment in the classrooms.
He said, “Parents need to stop living vicariously through their children. Because they could not do it at school so now all of a sudden the boys are being forced to wear locks when they don’t really want to.”
Meanwhile at a separate press conference held at the Grazettes Resource Centre, Dominique King, project officer with the Barbados Youth Development Council (BYDC), emphasised the need for reasonable standards that help shape the character and conduct of future adults.
“It is important to me that we have a standard of deportment for young people. We are not just sending kids to school just for an education, but we are also raising people that are supposed to be going out into our workplaces. I think that we should have standards, nothing that is unreasonable. Times change but we have to remain grounded and have a general foundation of deportment,” she said. (SB)
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