The result of that campaign? Barbers in the town in West Bengal’s Purba Bardhaman district have agreed not to give “quirky” haircuts to students of Parulia Kul Kamini High School.
Acting headmaster Subrata Samanta says, “Six-seven months ago, we realised that strange and quirky haircuts among our students have become a serious menace. From cricketers to footballers, students copy their hairstyles. But these are not suited for school students. It was like the spreading of a disease. What had been limited to senior classes started to also be seen in junior classes. Initially, we had asked such students to leave the class, and later we issued a notice to everyone. However, the menace kept spreading.”
The school twice issued notices on the issue, once on June 11 and then on July 6. “All students must have decent haircuts when they come to school. If the hair near the ears is very short, then double that size will be allowed in the middle of the head. However, quirky haircuts will not be tolerated,” a notice read.
In August, the school also held a meeting with the guardians of class 10 and 11 students regarding the matter.
Established in 1951, the government-funded school has become known as one of the best in the region, with students regularly figuring in the top 20 in state board exam rankings. Last year, students from the school got 12th and 14th ranks in the class 10 board exams. It is also one of the biggest schools in the area, with 3,100 students – split nearly evenly between boys and girls.
Having identified the haircut “menace” as a major issue this year, the school decided to take more proactive steps after the notices failed to have the desired effect.
“As the menace continued, we thought: ‘Why not a proper campaign?’ The first part of the campaign was to approach local barbers, hairdressers, and salon owners,” acting headmaster Samanta said.
Along with Maths teacher Subrata Acharya, Samanta went to two nearby barber shops to discuss the issue. Eventually, they called a meeting of local barbers, for which around 36 hairdressers, salon owners and barbers came to the school on October 24.
Acharya says, “We explained to them that this is a prestigious school, where students get good rank in both secondary and higher secondary board exams. We need to have discipline.”
The Maths teacher said the barbers expressed their helplessness in the matter when students and even some of the students’ guardians request such haircuts. “It is their bread and butter,” Acharya said of the barbers’ argument.
However, all local salon owners and barbers eventually agreed to give only “decent” haircuts to students and to refuse if they are asked for more quirkier styles.
Madan Sil, the owner of a local salon and the Parulia Samabay Salon Owners Association, says, “We were surprised when the headmaster approached us. We told him that if one of us does not do it (give a quirky haircut to students), then someone else will in order to get customers. Students, and even their guardians, show pictures of sportsmen like Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, and many others who we do not know. But we have to cut their hair like that.”
He said, however, that the barbers understood the issue raised by the school. “We have respect for the school. We understood and agreed that we all must unite and stop such haircuts. Now, when students from that school come, we refuse such haircuts,” he said.
At the same time, he made clear that the Parulia salon owners association would not be held responsible if the students got haircuts in other areas. “Many students live in different areas of Bardhaman and can get haircuts there,” Sil said.
The school plans to continue its campaign. Its next move is a mega awareness conference where parents, guardians, teachers, local intellectuals, as well as barbers and salon owners will be invited to take part.
“In December, we are planning an awareness drive where guardians, barbers and others will be called. We do not have a hall that can accommodate everyone, so we are planning to do it in a local field,” the acting headmaster said.
A parent who has two children in the school said she supported the campaign. “This is a good initiative, and should have been done long ago. It is true that such bizarre haircuts have become the norm. We, guardians, are also responsible. There needs to be some decency in a student’s look. As for me, I have two sons studying in that school, and they have never been pulled up for their haircut. I have made sure they have decent haircuts,” said the parent, who asked not to be named, saying she did not want any problems from the many other guardians who are against the campaign.
In 2019, two other schools in Bengal had taken similar initiatives. One was the Nayaput Sudhir Kumar High School in Purba Medinipur, which appealed to local barbers to give only normal haircuts to students. The other was the New Farakka High School in Murshidabad, which organised a “sensitisation workshop” on haircuts, where local barbers and even police officers were invited.