New rules outlaw forced haircuts at schools, but schools aren’t convinced

A student-led campaign changed the law, but has reignited debate over personal freedom, school discipline, and how far the state should regulate schools.

Sambriddha Karki, 18, had barely finished six months of his grade 11 when he experienced the forced haircut. Every three to four weeks, teachers and discipline in-charges at his school in Kathmandu would line students up and check their hair. If it was too long, the punishments varied: a phone call home, a class he wasn’t allowed to enter, sometimes his identity card was taken away.