Call for schools’ ban on skirts to be overturned

Call for schools’ ban on skirts to be overturned

Out of the five States secondary schools, Haute Vallée, Grainville and Hautlieu have all banned skirts in their dress code, insisting instead that girls wear trousers. The two other States schools, Les Quennevais and Le Rocquier, do permit skirts to be worn, as do fee-paying schools such as Jersey College for Girls, Beaulieu and St Michael’s.

Speaking to the JEP, representatives of the National Education Union said that skirt bans seem like a new form of ‘discrimination’ against women and that female pupils should be allowed to wear clothes that are ‘acceptable in wider society’.

But a States spokeswoman said that schools could impose their own dress codes and added that the ban at Grainville was due to school’s ‘active curriculum’.

The recent news that skirts have been banned from the dress code in 40 schools in England provoked an angry backlash in the UK.

An anonymous JEP reader, who described herself as a ‘concerned mother’, said that she feared that female pupils were being treated as though they were gender neutral and the ‘female brand’ was being eroded.

‘I worry if this is continued to be accepted, then what’s coming next? Short hair for everyone?’ she said.

‘It is taking away a choice from the girls to wear a skirt and treating all girls as gender neutral. I think in this time and age it is not acceptable that this is happening to our girls.

‘Those three out of the five States schools who have banned them need to review this and allow our children to make a choice as to whether they want to wear a skirt, trousers or shorts.

‘If someone wants to be treated as gender neutral, then this is absolutely fine, but don’t treat all girls as gender neutral by removing the choice for them.’

Brendan Carolan, the president of the National Education Union in Jersey, said that it was ‘ironic’ that girls were now being banned from wearing skirts.

‘The NEU would be against such bans, arguing that what is considered fully acceptable clothing in wider society should not be seen as inappropriate by schools,’ he said.

‘It seems ironic that after having fought for the right to wear trousers perhaps 50 to 60 years ago women would suddenly be losing the right to wear skirts. It’s as if we are replacing one form of discrimination with another.’

Andy Woolley, the NEU’s south-west regional secretary, added that a ‘blanket ban’ was not the right way to deal with any problems skirt-wearing students might cause.

‘I know that some schools in the UK have said that they have imposed bans because of upskirting [taking photos up girls’ skirts],’ he said.

‘But if any students are being disruptive or provocative, then that needs to be dealt with individually, not with a blanket ban. That is like banning jewellery to stop people being mugged.

‘As long as the students are smart and dressed appropriately, that is fine. Schools have rules about skirt length and they are right to.’

A States spokeswoman said that dress code and uniform was a ‘matter for individual schools’.

‘Students at JCG can choose to wear either skirts or trousers. It is up to students as individuals to choose,’ she said.

‘At Grainville School, however, all students wear trousers and skirts are not part of the uniform. Grainville School say they offer an active curriculum and trousers are more comfortable and practical.’

The headmasters of Hautlieu and Haute Vallée were approached for comment by the JEP but did not respond.

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