The Supreme Administrative Court has revoked a controversial 50-year-old Education Ministry regulation that severely limited the way students could style their hair.
The court's ruling, announced on Wednesday, is final. It brings to an end a highly controversial issue that had sparked spats involving teachers, students and parents.
The court ordered the annulment of a regulation the ministry issued in 1975, effective immediately, on the grounds it violated individual freedom protected by the constitution and was out of touch with a changing society.
The regulation set hairstyles for male and female students in schools supervised by the ministry. Boys were not allowed beards or moustaches and had to cut their hair short. Girls were not allowed to grow their hair below their ears or to wear any makeup.
The regulation was based on an order issued by a ruling military junta in 1972 regarding hairstyles deemed appropriate for students.
The court's final judgement is seen as a victory for 23 students who first petitioned the Administrative Court in 2020, asking it to revoke the 1975 rule.
The court ruling means the ministry will now leave the issue of hairstyles up to individual schools. Some schools pass it on to parents to decide, while others leave it to the school executive body or a joint sitting of teachers and parents.
Comments posted on social media were not all happy. Some said schools still had teachers who specifically targeted students with long hair.
"As long as there is no punishment, those old-style teachers will continue to violate the rights of the body of children," C-disc wrote on the X account of Bad Student.
