Current happenings make me miss my secondary school days.
That is why I feel like writing in pidgin English- it check like say by now, Governing Board members for Motown get eggs for dema faces. Sake of, the boy wey dem no want admit nu, he spoil there.
I mean the boy, whose admission they fought against vehemently, has proven that he is not a bad nut after all. At least, nothing negative has been heard about him while he was in the school from 2021 to date.
His name is Tyrone Marhguy. He secured admission into Motown together with a rasta-haired friend called Oheneba Nkrabea, but members of the Achimota School’s Governing Board rejected their application.
The school authorities demanded that the duo will be admitted only after they had shaved off their rasta hair. This is against the background that in all Ghanaian schools, even girls are not allowed to plait or braid their hair. The prescription is short, nicely cut hair.
This generated a huge public debate over whether it is their ability to undergo the mental exercises that academic work entails or their hair style that matter.
Those who argued in favour of Motown said among others, that it will be a wrong precedent if the lads were allowed into the School. Others said they would indoctrinate their peers and lead them astray.
On the other hand, those who supported Tyrone and Oheneba described the disposition of the Achimota School authorities as backward thinking. They argued that the focus should be on the intellectual capabilities of the young men, not their hair.
Confession time. Is the High Priest Ready? I was one of those who held the strong view that the boys should be made to conform to the rules of the School by shaving off the dreadlocks. I did not see why they should be allowed to look different. More so, when even girls are not allowed to braid or plait their hair. I held the opinion that these boys have been allowed to do things their way all their lives and it was time to make them understand that, you cannot have things your way all the time in life.
But Tyrone and Oheneba in exercising their right to freedom of hair style and religious faith- Rastafarianism, sued the School, the Minister of Education, Ghana Education Service, and the Attorney-General.
On May 31, 2021, a Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court presided over by Justice Gifty Agyei Addo ruled that the fundamental human rights of the two students cannot be limited by the rules of the School.
Justice Gifty Agyei posited that, she did not think the Achimota School and co, made a compelling argument with regard to why those two students should not be admitted. Her contention was that, the boys had rights to education and to express their religious freedom.
Then the Governing Board shot back. “The governing Board of Achimota School was represented in court yesterday, 31 May 2021, and has learned of the outcome of the case brought against it by two persons who had earlier applied to be admitted to the School. The court ruled that the religious rights of the applicants had been violated by the School Management as they sought to enforce time-tested and well-known rules of the School. The court further directed the School to admit the two applicants. The School Board disagrees with the ruling of the court. The School Board has therefore directed its Lawyers to appeal against the ruling,” a statement signed by Chairman of the Board on Tuesday, June 1, 2021 read.
Although he did not write his name under his signature on the press release, for whatever reason, my checks revealed that the Chairman’s name is Mr. Osei Kwame Agyeman.
The debate was thus reignited. While others said the School authorities should just give in, others like me said the court dwelt too much on legalities instead of the cultural terrain in which the issue was playing out. We were sure that even if he was allowed in the School, the teachers will victimize him. He would have difficulty integrating into the School. His peers will shy away from him etc.
Tyrone and his parents themselves got into two minds about the whole issue. Eventually, Tyrone enrolled, but Oheneba found solace in Ghana International School.
“With the support of my parents and loved ones, I should be able to handle it amicably,” Tyrone said in answering a question on whether he was not afraid of being victimized by the authorities of Motown.
Not too long though, news broke that Tyrone had assaulted his father over a misunderstanding at home. “I had people telling me to go report my son to the police station, but I won’t report him. Because when you go to the police station, they will ask what object he used to slash my hands and as I am talking to you, I have no idea what he used, he held my hand after our fight and I saw the bruises later and so I don’t know whether I hit my hand or what exactly he used to slash my hands,” Tereo Marhguy said in a video that went viral.
This strengthened we, the ‘against people’, our contention that the boy should not be allowed into Achimota School. Nonetheless, the rule of law prevailed.
The 2023 WASSCE results
There is something that is not adding up for me. It is clear from the foregoing that Tyrone went to school after June, 2021. That means he has done two academic years. However, the SHS programme has a three-year duration. Which means he should complete in 2024. So, what’s going on?
I checked and got two possible reasons. First, that COVID-19 disrupted their academic calendar, hence that batch of students did not cover the entire three-year period. Secondly, that Tyrone, like many students do, decided to test his readiness for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) one year ahead of his time.
If the latter explanation is the case, then ‘the boy be shark ruff.’
Well, on Monday, December 18, 2023, the West African Examination Council (WAEC) released the provisional results of this year’s WASSCE. According to WAEC, this exam was organized for candidates in Ghana only.
A total number of 448,674 candidates, made up of 212,453 males and 236,221 females from 975 schools entered for the examination. A critical analysis of the results indicates that the overall performance as far as the core subjects are concerned, is the best since 2020.
The down side to these heartwarming statistics is the number of candidates whose results have either been cancelled or withheld for varied nefarious activities.
“Following completion of investigations into some of the cases of irregularity reported during the conduct of the examination, the 35th Meeting of the Ghana Examinations Committee, held on Wednesday, December 13, 2023 approved as follows: ‘ (1) Cancellation of Subject Results of 3,647 candidates for bringing foreign material like prepared notes, text books, and printed material into the examination halls; (2) Cancellation of Entire Results of 839 candidates for possession of mobile phones in the examination halls; (3) Withholding of Subject Results of 4,280 candidates and the Entire Results of 1,005 for various suspected offences.
Yet still, some subject results of candidates from 235 schools have been withheld for collusion and the use of artificial intelligence generated answers. These cases are still under investigation. The withheld results of these candidates may be released or cancelled depending on the outcome of investigations,” a press release signed by John Kapi, Head of Public Relations read.
Why candidates for WAEC’S exams continue to cheat even as they are continuously found out and sanctioned, beats my imagination.
A clue has been offered though. That there is a whole syndicate spearheaded by owners of some private schools and headmasters of some elite senior high schools, who procure examination questions for their candidates and aid them in answering. This evil gesture is what prevents the young men and women from relying on their relatively unburdened minds to retain and reproduce what they are taught in school.
Tyrone ‘shock fans’
I noted the seeming irony in the expression ‘shock fans’ as used by the younger generation. I could not fathom how someone’s fans could be shocked by their prowess in what they know them to do best. So, I asked for its meaning. I was told that it means a feeling of vindication for having shamed or proved critics or detractors wrong. And that’s pidgin English. So, I accepted and decided to use it.
Back on tract. While the results of many of his counterparts in other schools were either withheld or cancelled for the above specified acts of indiscipline, Tyrone’s was among those released.
When he checked, it was ‘straight As’ as his peers describe it.
Then it was time for jubilation.
Joined by his friends, they shouted ‘heat, heat, heat!!!!’
Deservedly so. Scoring ‘8As’ in WASSCE is the dream of every senior high school student who becomes a candidate. However, it takes more than a dream or wish. Hard work based on one’s intellect is what makes it possible.
Evidently, dreadlocked-hair notwithstanding, Tyrone Iras Marhguy, has achieved a feat many of us doubted he could. The perception of a bad nut with potential to spoil the bunch has remained so- the way in which something is regarded, understood, or interpreted.
It’s time to go
I am one of those people who get worked up when I see male children with braided or plaited hair. When in adulthood they add earrings, then I look away.
As such, one person whose decision to wear dreadlocks put me off is the musician Stonebwoy. That’s because of my association of Rasta with badness. How he managed to win the heart of a Medical and Dental Council certified dentist and build a family with her, made me pay closer attention to him. So far, no cases of assault or battery in the public domain. Rather, regular news of EP releases and brand ambassadorial deals. Except that gun-pulling incident involving his non-dreadlocked foe, Shata Wale.
Samini Dagati, aka Batman is another. Over the years, he seems to have won my heart despite his Rasta hair. Having had children with multiple women without any reported cases of assault or battery, for me, means discipline. To top it all, Emmanuel Andrews Samini enrolled at my Alma mater, GIMPA for a degree in Project Management. That’s not all. He had the comportment to run for and win a Students Representative Council presidency while there. In a recent interview he had with Berla Mundi on TV3’s Day Show, I observed that he did not just go through the school, GIMPA went through him.
Clearly, Tyrone Marhguy’s feat has set me thinking. I hope I am not alone. The lesson I am picking from this occurrence is to steer away from stereotypes. Of course, there are the wee-smoking Rastafarians who can be recognized by the deeds.
So, henceforth, I shall look beneath the dreadlocked-hair into the brain to ascertain what it is capable of, before judging. Meanwhile Stonebwoy could not hide the fact that Tyrone has ‘shock fans’. He promised Tyrone Marhguy 10 tickets for his Bhim Nation Concert.
Media Personality and fashion enthusiast, Kofi Okyere Darko has also gifted him a GHC5,000 shopping voucher. Well deserved.
Having said that, I may have to get to the bridge to know how to cross it. That is to say, it may not be that easy to welcome a dreadlock-haired man introduced to me by Erica my only daughter as her suitor. If you feel like me, don’t worry. I guess the change in mindset will be gradual.
In the meantime, Tyrone my guy, ‘you force brutal.’
Hamba kahle – That’s goodbye in Zulu
Let God lead! Follow Him directly, not through any human.
The writer is the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Columnist of the Year- 2022. He is the author of two books whose contents share knowledge on how anyone desirous of writing like him can do so. Eric can be reached via email [email protected]