A Malawian High Court has directed the nation's Ministry of Education to allow students with dreadlocks to attend public schools in the country.

On Monday, a court in the southern city of Zoma ordered the Ministry to release a circular by June 30 declaring the lifting of limitations that prevented Rastafarian students from attending public schools.

The decision was made regarding a petition filed by two Rastafarian students who were denied entrance to public schools in 2016 and 2010.

In its decision, the court stated that preventing Rastafarian children from attending public schools violates a child's right to an education.


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It also ordered the Attorney General's office to pay all expenditures incurred during the case's hearing.

According to local media sources, the two students have returned to school after obtaining a court injunction.

Rastafarianism is a Jamaican Abrahamic religion that emphasizes natural living, including their hair.

However, Malawi's Rastafarians have long been marginalized by education laws that require pupils to cut their hair to promote what they call student uniformity, prompting some Rastafarian parents to send their children to private schools.

Those who cannot afford expensive schools succumb to peer pressure and cut their children's dreads.