Schoolgirls at Appleton Academy in Bradford, West Yorkshire, have been ordered to put on “gender neutral” trousers as an alternative of skirts on the begin of the subsequent tutorial yr.
“The minor coverage change signifies that, from September 2019, the uniform for all secondary pupils is altering to trousers solely,” acknowledged the Exceed Academies Trust which runs the Appleton Academy — which was rated as requiring enchancment by faculties regulator Ofsted — in feedback reported by the Daily Mirror.
“There are a variety of causes for this alteration; it’s gender impartial in line with the coverage in the vast majority of secondary faculties, it simplifies the uniform and it removes the difficulty of pupils sporting skirts which are an inappropriate size.
“In response to the policy change, the reaction from our pupils has been very mature; they have calmly asked the reason behind the decision and politely accepted the explanation provided,” they claimed — however pupils and fogeys who described the choice as “ridiculous” and “sexist” begged to differ.
“I think it’s disgusting and actually sexist,” stated one mom who wished to stay nameless.“They’re not going to go and force the boys to wear skirts,” she stated.
“Women from all the generations before this one wore skirts without any problems, what’s changed now?” she requested.
“What’s actually annoying is that the primary any of us heard concerning the change was on social media. We didn’t get the letter till a day later.”
“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous,” concured a Year 10 schoolgirl, who additionally wished to stay nameless.