Jamaicans for Justice wishes to clarify our involvement in the case of the 5-year-old instructed to cut her dreadlocked hair to attend Kensington Primary.
JFJ was not party/claimant on the current matter and did not argue the full case before the Constitutional Court in 2020 as erroneously reported.
In 2018, attorneys from JFJ filed a claim on behalf of the family and secured an injunction allowing the child to return to school. Our role was to initiate this case and provide services to the family at the time.
Subsequent to this ruling, Jamaicans for Justice was not involved in the case. The case was continued exclusively by one of the attorneys in the matter after he left JFJ’s employ.
We maintain that no child should be denied an education because of their hairstyle, and have called for the reform of the Education Act and Education Regulations to prevent this from happening to anyone else. We are keenly tracking the situation and await the written judgement to provide further comment.
