I feel vindicated – Achimota Rasta Student Who Scored 8As In 2023 WASSCE

Tyrone Iras Marhguy had to make a difficult decision after being accepted to the high school of his choice: his faith or education.

An official at the Achimota Senior High School in Ghana told the teen he would have to cut his dreadlocks before enrolling.

For Marhguy, who is a Rastafarian, cutting his dreadlocks is non-negotiable, so he and his family asked the courts to intervene.

That singular decision by Achimota School in March 2021 led to a national conversation on religious freedom, educational practices, the rule of law, discrimination and many hot-topic issues.

Though this is not the first time in Ghana that children with dreadlocks have been told to cut them off to be permitted to attend school, it is the first incident to have attracted this degree of attention.

The general position of Achimota School was that their “rules and regulations” forbid long hair, while that of the Rastafarian student was that his locks are a core part of his “religion and culture” and, as such, a non-negotiable tenet.

Unhappy about the school’s reluctance to accommodate their son’s beliefs, the Marhguys sued the Achimota School Board of Governors, the Minister of Education, the Ghana Education Service and the Attorney General to enforce their fundamental Human Rights. A separate suit was filed by another Rastafarian student, Oheneba Kwaku Nkrabea, who was also denied admission to the school.

After weeks of uncertainty and a legal battle that reached the Human Rights Court, the court on May 31, 2021, ruled that Achimota School admits both Rastafarian students, emphasizing the protection of their fundamental human rights.

While Tyrone thrived academically at Achimota, his fellow controversial figure, Oheneba Kwaku Nkrabea, pursued education at Ghana International School on a scholarship following the court ruling.

Three years down the lane, Marhguy is in the public spotlight again after excelling in the recently concluded West African Senior Secondary School Examinations (WASSCE).

The science student from Achimota School achieved straight As in the 2023 edition of the WASSCE.

This achievement showcases his dedication and intelligence and serves as a testament to the power of resilience and determination.

In an interview with The Ghana Report, Marhguy shared his resilience in the face of rejection.

Narrating his experience after he was enrolled, Tyrone said, “Once I entered Achimota school, it was as if nothing ever happened. Teachers were just open, and everyone was living their life.

“Trying to be realistic, I will say that after all that happened, it is natural that there will be some form of disagreements or some form of conflict or fiction in there, but fortunately, it never happened, and I’m so happy it never did.

Asked why he decided to seek legal action against Achimota School, he said, “On the outside, when you look at the bigger picture, it is more like proving it wrong that appearance judges are not the best judge for anything. But then, on the inside, it isn’t particularly about Achimota School, in the sense that we could think of it as characters playing a moral where, in reality, there are no kind of disagreements between myself and Achimota School, but then again, the story did happen and then that moral too needed to be proved. So yes, we wanted to prove a point but then not to prove the point to Achimota school; it was to prove the general point.”

Marguy opined that Ghana’s educational system needs reform. According to him, school rules and regulations need to be open to accommodate every individual.

“I know that there is a reason to have a number of these rules because then, for the majority of people, these rules are actually the perfect cut, but then again, you can’t have the single cut for every single person if they strife to have diversity. You cannot have a single set of rules for diverse people. It will be very hard, and so what I personally think is that yes, there should be foundational rules or set of rules, but in the long run, there should be provision for other cultures and other societies and try to include them as long as we are interested in diversity.

“The rules should be there, but we should also be more open to let other cultures fit as long as society is safe,” he opined.

He added, “I don’t hope for this ever to happen again, but if it ever did, I will be so glad to actually take part because, being someone who has experienced all of this, I think I wouldn’t want anyone to go through the tension, the stress and all of that knowing that in the long run, the person really needs to be educated or if that person is competent there shouldn’t be any other reason or minor reasons like these to stop them from going to school.”

Speaking on his plans, Marhguy said he was considering studying either Computer Science, Computer Engineering or Electrical Engineering at the tertiary level.

“I think for the Wassce, I’m very excited that we got this far because I knew it wouldn’t be easy getting 8 As. It sounded tough, and it was actually very tough, but I’m very happy we got this far.

“For the future plans, I’m trying to be as open as possible. So right now, I’m looking at Ghanaian schools, but then at the same time, I’m looking at foreign schools outside to see which one is the best option because as much as I want to study computer engineering and computer science, I will be happy if I get the best,” he said.

Tyrone Marghuy was grateful to his family, lawyers, Child’s Rights International and individuals who supported his journey.