School principals kick children out of exams for having “wrong” hairstyles

The “crooked” internal regulations were brought to the attention of the prosecutor’s office

Several stories on the same topic made waves in different regions of the country. For example, in Transbaikalia, a teenager was not allowed to take a college exam because of his hair dyed green. And in the Novosibirsk region they gave bad marks “for discipline”: forgetting a shift or being late for class. And in Chelyabinsk, first-graders are given a ton of homework and given bad grades… All these actions have one thing in common: they violate federal legislation.

The notorious “school internal rules” and charter, being an integral part of school self-determination, should not violate the Law “On Education”.

But in practice this happens quite often. In Chelyabinsk, the regional prosecutor’s office even had to intervene in the “internal rules”. In order to remind the school principal that grading 1st grade students is not provided for by law.

Teachers usually use emoticons, plus signs, and stickers for first-graders to indicate good and excellent answers. Parents are informed about unsuccessful ones and what needs to be worked on. But in such a way as to give two marks… As for homework, it is acceptable for first-graders, but, according to the recommendations of the Ministry of Education, completion should not take more than an hour a day.

As a result, the school, which was too demanding of children, was given a prosecutorial ban on issuing grades, including “fails,” to 1st grade students. The amount of homework has been ordered to be reduced. And “two officials were brought to disciplinary liability,” the supervisory agency reports.

But in the city of Krasnokamensk, Trans-Baikal Territory, a college student managed to protect herself. He was not allowed to take the exam in the winter session because he “dyed his hair a bright color.” Green, to be more precise. The college administration referred to “the requirements of local acts on appearance.” The guy also wrote a statement to the prosecutor’s office. And there they protected the interests of the student. The college management was reminded of what everyone who occupies a leadership position in the education system should already know. The college may set its own requirements for clothing, be it workwear, uniforms, or a specific dress code. Rules may be prescribed for the “color, style, type and insignia” of students’ uniform or regular clothing. But other requirements for appearance, be it green hair, dreadlocks, ponytails, nails, tattoos, piercings or other “reprehensible” image details, are not regulated by the educational institution. And requirements regarding such appearance details for students “are considered a violation on the part of the educational organization.”

As a result, the student with radically green hair passed the exam and continues his studies. And a protocol on administrative violation under an article of the Code of Administrative Offenses was drawn up against the director.

And the regional Ministry of Education of Novosibirsk issued an explanation according to which, “teachers can use a bad grade only as an assessment of a child’s knowledge.” They say we don’t give grades for discipline and appearance.

Local social networks insist that there was a reason for such a report from the educational department. We are talking about a rural school in the Zaeltsovsky district, where “teachers give bad marks for every reason.” The director, and at the same time other school leaders, were reminded: according to federal law, disciplinary measures such as reprimand, expulsion, and reprimand must be applied to students who have committed misconduct. The law considers primary school students and children with disabilities to be exceptions to disciplinary measures.

“Yes, that’s right, colored hair or tattoos are a personal matter of the student and his legal representatives,” says lawyer Stanislav Popov. — If this is a college, then a secondary specialized educational institution (secondary educational institution) or a secondary vocational education institution, there may be some professional standards prohibiting long nails or piercing if it is fraught with injury. Or it is not safe in some profession, in a certain activity.

Cadet schools, military and naval schools may have their own rules, but they are more often subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, etc. For the rest of the vast majority of schools and educational institutions of secondary and general education, actions are determined by the federal law “On Education”. It prevails over local and local ones, and we must focus on it.