The Keralam child rights panel has said boys and children who do not identify with a specific gender are free to grow their hair as they choose and directed schools not to discriminate against or penalise them over hair length.
The panel noted that it had not found any specific guidelines issued by the state Education department or the CBSE on the matter.
School authorities should not mentally harass boys or transgender children, remove them from classes, discriminate against them or subject them to other punitive measures over hair length or related matters, the commission said. School authorities should give greater priority to students’ academic progress and personality development rather than their external appearance, it said. The other was filed by the principal of a private school in Kottakkal, who said an 11th-standard boy had repeatedly refused to cut his hair despite being asked to do so. The principal sought guidelines on how schools should deal with such cases, according to the statement.
It directed that appropriate guidelines be prepared urgently and that boys and children who do not identify with a specific gender be included in the committee framing them and be heard before the guidelines are issued to schools.
