Why Do Young African School Girls Have to Cut Their Hair?

There was a time when going to school in many parts of Africa came with a price far greater than tuition, books, or even uniforms. For many young African school girls, education meant letting go of their natural hair. 

Growing up in Lagos, I remember school-approved hairstyles were tight cornrows or a shaved head. At the start of every term, most of us school girls and boys had to shave our hair. It was easier than enduring the pain, and besides, teachers insisted that keeping your natural hair looked disorderly. Some even argued that hair could distract us from our studies or make us disrespectful to elders because we felt more confident in our hair.

For many of my friends and me, this was our reality throughout primary and secondary school. This rule was not unique to my school. Across Nigeria and the rest of African countries like Ghana, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and even South Africa, just to mention the least, the same policy shaped the lives of countless schoolgirls. Education was important, but before we could sit on our desks, we had to let go of the styles that defined us outside the school walls; no braids, no twists, no beads, no afros. Just shaved heads.

This practice did not completely stop with my generation. In most government and a few private schools, the rule remains. While certain private schools allow simple plaits, some still insist on uniformity, which often translates to requiring schoolgirls to keep their hair cut low. Public schools were even stricter, with administrations framing the policy as necessary for discipline and neatness. The message is the same: learning requires sacrifice, and hair is the first thing to go.

Today, things are shifting. Mothers now dream of seeing their daughters’ hair adorned in beautiful hairstyles and beads clicking softly as they run to school. Yet, despite this cultural awakening, the question still lingers: why do so many African school policies continue to demand that school children cut their hair in order to learn? 

Hair as Identity in Pre-Colonial Africa

Before colonial rule, in the late 19th century, hair for African women carried a meaning more than beauty. Among the Yorùbás of Nigeria, the Akans of Ghana, and many other groups across the continent, hairstyles held meaning. An African girl’s hair could reveal her age, marital status, community, or social rank. 

There were no rules about “tidiness” or “professionalism.” Instead, hair was celebrated as a form of cultural expression. It was an art form passed down through generations. Braiding sessions were moments of bonding between mothers and daughters, and other females in the community.

Colonial Imposition and the Rise of Restrictive School Hair Policies

Then came colonialism, and with it, a different set of rules for the African girls’ hair. 

In Nigeria and many other regions in Africa, missionary and government schools enforced Eurocentric beauty standards that redefined African identity. To the colonial masters, African hair was “untidy,” “unclean,” and “unprofessional.” 

So, they introduced grooming codes or school conduct. Those codes were tied to the idea of “civilizing” the African child, and demanded that schoolgirls cut their hair. 

In the European context, short or shaved hair meant cleanliness. African braids, on the other hand, were seen as primitive, unsuitable for the classroom, and incompatible with the new codes of discipline.

This practice, introduced through education, became deeply rooted in African schooling systems. Generations of young girls grew up with the idea that their natural hair had no place in the classroom. These policies have quickly reshaped African identity to fit Western ideals. And decades later, even in an uncolonized Africa, some of these ideals remain.

Why do Colonial Rules Still Dictate African School Hair Policies?

Today, in parts of Africa, some young girls still face strict rules on how they wear their hair to school.

Some schools permit only low cuts or specific styles like simple plaits, while others insist on a completely shaved head. Extensions are completely banned, and natural afros are often considered “rough”, even in Africa.

In 2016, a group of girls at Pretoria High School for Girls in South Africa had to protest to be allowed to carry their natural afro to school because school policies wanted to tame the natural hair. 

At the time, the administration had stated that only braids or straightened hair were acceptable in the school. The protest quickly turned into a national debate in South Africa, exposing the subtle and not-so-subtle ways Black children were still pressured to conform to Eurocentric standards.

Yet, in those same schools, white girls could walk freely with their flowing hair, and it was never considered untidy or unprofessional.

Over time, these school hair policies became normalized in African countries, and we stopped questioning them, even though they stripped away a part of our cultural heritage. 

The lingering colonial mindset continues to dictate African girls’ hair under the guise of discipline and neatness. But hair should never be a barrier to education. African hair is beautiful, powerful, and worthy of celebration, not erasure. 

Photo: Chantal Rigaud