Tyrone Iras Marhguy, the Achimota Secondary School alumnus who made national headlines for his fight to wear dreadlocks to school, has been awarded a full scholarship to study Computer Engineering at the prestigious University of Pennsylvania in the United States.
Marhguy, who achieved a perfect score of eight A’s in his West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), received offers from four top universities abroad, totaling a substantial $1.4 million to cover his education for the next four years.
In a heartfelt Facebook post, Marhguy expressed his gratitude and reflected on his journey, which began with a legal battle against Achimota School for denying him admission due to his dreadlocks. His victory in that case paved the way for more inclusive education policies and inspired countless others to stand up against discrimination.
Marhguy acknowledged the unwavering support of his family, mentors, and supporters, including Child Rights International, Ghana, and his legal team.
He expressed his deep appreciation for their relentless advocacy and belief in his cause.
You would recall that over 3 years ago in March 2021 Tyrone Marhguy and Oheneba Nkrabea 2 young Ghanaian students were denied admission into one of Ghana’s crème-de-la-crème schools Achimota School, Ghana for refusing to shave off their dreadlocks notwithstanding that they had passed their qualifying examinations, and, had been selected into the school through the computerized placement system.
This led to a barrage of court cases between the school and the students.
The school (Achimota School) through the Attorney General argued in court that allowing the students into the school would have dire consequences on the school’s discipline, health, tradition, and community cohesion.
The Attorney General subsequently argued in Court that the Rastafarian students had not even completed or returned their acceptance of admission forms and could thus not be deemed to have been denied admission.
But for the students, their parents, and lawyers, this was simply a case of a breach of fundamental rights on the basis of their religion and religious practices.
However, in a pleasant tale of events, The Judge in the case Justice Gifty Adjei Addo disagreed with the submissions of the Attorney and granted all the reliefs separately sought by the students, save for the relief of compensation in the case of Tyrone Marhguy.
According to Justice Addo, it was preposterous for the Attorney General to have even suggested that the two were not students in the first place.
Justice Gifty Adjei Addo consequently directed Achimota School to admit the two Rastafarian students. She held that the Attorney-General failed to provide a legal justification as to why the rights of the two Rastafarian students to education should be limited on the basis of their dreadlocks.
Global African Times wishes the young undergrad all the best in his journey at Penn.
Additional Sources: Citi News Room
