South Africa schoolgirls protest over demand they straighten their hair

They'd like everyone to get this straight: they will not get it straightened.

Students in South Africa have been taking to the streets in protest. The issue is hair. Specifically, the hair of black students at the Pretoria High School for Girls. Students say staff at the school have repeatedly told them Afros aren't allowed — and their hair must be straightened. 

I really wanted to do something for girls who have five years left . . . They deserve to feel beautiful and important now.- Malaika Eyoh, Grade 12 student

Malaika Eyoh is a Grade 12 student at the school. She tells As It Happens guest host Dave Seglins that teachers at the school have repeatedly told black students that their hair styles are unacceptable.

Eyoh believes that racism is behind the policing of the students' hair.

"The school system in South Africa is still largely based on pre-democracy," she says. "And we tend to value Euro-centric values more. So when girls are ready to embrace their blackness, they're often shut down."

The provincial representative for education, Panyaza Lesufi, has now suspended the school's code of conduct — which only this year formally adopted a no-Afros policy. But Eyoh says the problem goes beyond hair.

"A lot of the time, when black students speak in native languages, like Xhosa or Zulu, they're often told by white teachers to stop making noise or that they can't speak their own languages here."

Malaika is in her last year at the school, but she says, "I really wanted to do something for girls who have five years left . . . so that they don't have to worry about their hair and feel uncomfortable in their skin for five years like we did. They deserve to feel beautiful and important now."