Overview
- The Government of President Keiko Fujimori announced new discipline rules for public schools on Oct. 15 and 16 that limit makeup and dyed hair, require short hair for boys, restrict cellphone use, and change conduct grading.
- Officials described the package as a response to violence and bullying and said the rules are meant to “recover order” in classrooms rather than target private schools.
- Writer and commentator Jaime Bayly published a viral video denouncing the measures as an attack on student freedom, calling them “a complete stupidity” and labeling the stance antiliberal.
- Bayly and other critics have focused on practical questions about enforcement, asking who would measure hair length and who would decide compliance, and those concerns have joined rights-based objections in media coverage.
- The rules remain formally announced with no retraction so far and could lead to legal challenges, local enforcement disputes, and a wider political fight over civil liberties in education.