Girls to wear the pants, at school

ALL Queensland state schools will be forced to offer more uniform choices from next year in the biggest dress code change in decades.

GIRLS will be able to choose to wear shorts and pants at all Queensland state schools from next year, in an overhaul of the state’s uniform policy.

Education Minister Grace Grace will today release Department of Education’s updated Student Dress Code, which demands all schools offer more uniform choices to girls, including pants.

Currently, at about 40 per cent of Queensland’s state schools, the only uniform options available to female students are skirts and dresses.

Ms Grace said some schools had not updated their dress code policy in years and this needed to change.

“At the beginning of the year, I heard loud and clear from students, parents and carers that it was time for a change to reflect community expectations,” Ms Grace said.

“All Queensland girls should be able to engage in active play and classroom activities or ride their bikes to and from school without being restricted by what they’re wearing.”

P & Cs Queensland President Gayle Walters said parents and students were excited about the updated uniform policy, but schools needed time to engage appropriate uniform suppliers and prepare for the changes.

“I’m the mother of three girls, and this cannot come fast enough in our school,” she said.

“I think most schools were already heading in that pathway, but it will take about six months to be ready,” she said.

Education Minister Grace Grace with students from Stretton State College. Picture: Jamie Hanson

At Stretton State College in Brisbane’s south, gender-neutral uniform options were introduced after a community-wide survey found half of the school’s primary school girls did not want to wear a skirt to school.

“We listened to our girls and made changes so they can be comfortable in their uniforms,” the school’s executive principal Jan Maresca said.

“Come into our school now and you’ll see girls kicking a football, playing handball, lying under tree reading a book and hanging from monkey bars unrestricted,” Ms Maresca said yesterday.

Under the revamped uniform policy parents will also have more responsibility to ensure their children are dressed appropriately when they come to school.

New responsibilities for mums and dads, listed under the dress code, include requiring a commitment to support the uniform policy as a part of any enrolment agreement.

Parents also are required to commit to work with the school if their child is found not to be complying with the student dress code.