Education Minister Paul Givan has insisted that it should be up to schools to decide on uniform policy
Alliance MLA and member of Stormont’s Education Committee, Michelle Guy has said that she is “disappointed” that girls will not have the option to wear trousers as part of their school uniform following the passing of the Education Minister’s School Uniform Bill.
The Bill was passed at Stormont on Monday and will now go forward for Royal Assent.
Speaking to Belfast Live, Michelle Guy explained that the Education Committee had heard evidence on the need for girls to be allowed to wear trousers to school for “practical” reasons and also to address concerns around upskirting.
“We were really disappointed that the minister confirmed yesterday that girls will not be getting the choice to wear trousers in school as part of their school uniform. We would have liked to have seen that as something that was mandated in the legislation so that all girls have that opportunity.
“The situation as it is now is that schools decide and the situation after this legislation will be that schools decide. So there’s no change there for girls at all.
“We heard so much evidence at the Education Committee from young people themselves, but also from others telling us about the need for girls to wear trousers for practical reasons, things around menstruation, also participation in physical activity, all really important issues, and one that has been disregarded by the minister.”
Michelle Guy thanked the young people who gave evidence to the Committee on the topic and Independent MLA Claire Sugden, who had proposed an amendment to the legislation to allow girls to wear trousers.
“Claire Sugden had proposed an amendment that would give girls the opportunity to wear trousers, and she explained yesterday in the debate what motivated that, that she had a young girl from her constituency come forward and say that she had a concern about upskirting, and it was quite a young child, but the school said no, they were not going to give her the option to wear trousers, so that’s the kind of context this decision has been made in.
“We think it’s really disappointing, we think it’s really regressive, and look, I have a teenage girl in my house and I asked her what she thought about this decision and she really was like this is such an issue that it’s just not worth taking a stand on. She almost couldn’t get her head around the fact that any non-uniform day in her school, all the girls are wearing trousers, the only time she’ll wear a skirt is in school unless she’s on a special occasion with her family, so we need schools to catch up with the real world.
“If you go out and look around, girls wear trousers every day, the fact that they have some schools that will say they can never wear them in school is just behind the times, really.”
Appearing on BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show on Tuesday morning, the minister denied that there was a “gray area” in the policy and said that schools must consult with pupils when designing their uniform.
“There are already schools in Northern Ireland that provide that choice to girls I have been in those schools where they are wearing skirts or wearing trousers. This legislation again enables schools, as they design their policy, they have to listen to the pupil voice. That is now a legal requirement,” he said.
“Where pupils wish to have that choice, they can be part of the process and they can engage with their schools.
“But ultimately, this has been left that it is a schools decision as they take forward this policy on school uniform. They will decide if they want to make it available for girls to wear trousers.”
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