Thailand’s Ministry of Education has issued a letter, to all schools under its jurisdiction, to abrogate the 1975 regulations, regarding their students’ hair style and length, and to forbid the arbitrary cutting of students’ hair at school.
Education Permanent Secretary Mr. Prasert Boonruang, who also serves as the spokesman for the Education Ministry, said that schools which still enforce the 1975 regulation must adopt the 2005 regulation, which states that punitive actions against rogue students include warnings, probation, behavioural score deduction and performing social activities.
Commenting on a case earlier this week, which occurred at a high school in the northeastern province of Si Sa Ket, in which a girl student was forced to have her hair cut in front of other students during the flag-raising ritual, Mr. Prasert said that the school administrator had exceeded his remit.
The student’s mother was so upset over the forced haircut, which she described as a deliberate attempt to shame the girl in front of her peers, she threatened to move her daughter to another school.
The incident, which was posted on social media, has drawn widespread criticism of the school administration’s behaviour.
Mr. Chuchart Kaewnok, director of the provincial education office, has reportedly asked the girl’s mother to delay moving her daughter to another school, while officials try to resolve the problem.
