Students at Pretoria High School for Girls staged a protest on the school grounds over the weekend after they accused their school of forcing them chemically straighten their hair with relaxers
The girls said they were forced to chemically straighten their hair and not have afros that were deemed ‘untidy.’
An online petition against the school’s alleged policy has gathered more than 10,000 signatures since it was created on Friday.
The petition, titled “Stop Racism at Pretoria Girls High”, calls on authorities to ensure that the “school’s code of conduct does not discriminate against black and Muslim girls”.
“We are being discriminated against because of our hair, they want us to relax our hair, they want our hair to look a certain way,” an anonymous student told the PowerFM radio station.
The prestigious school in the capital Pretoria was historically attended by whites only but now admits black children following the end of apartheid in 1994.
South Africa is still grappling with racial issues 22 years after the end of white-minority rule.
Black students at the school also alleged on social media that they were not allowed to speak ethnic languages to one other.
Disagreements over students’ hairstyles have previously erupted in South African schools, with some parents accusing education authorities of racism.
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