Basildon Academies pupils protest "sexist" skirt ban

Roughly 40 students arrived at the Basildon Academies yesterday wearing skirts, a move which one pupil claimed saw a number of the girls removed from class.

The ban, which means girls must wear trousers to school, was rolled out three years ago to “support students from being disproportionately disadvantaged for uniform infringements.”

A year ten pupil, who wished to remain anonymous, has insisted girls should instead be given the choice to wear skirts or not and has called for an urgent re-think of the rule.

The 14-year-old said: “We all came in in our trousers and got changed before coming into lesson, there were about five other girls in my own class that did it.

“They then moved all of us into a different class.

“At the end of break they said ‘you either put your trousers back on go to isolation’, but we said no we’re going to lesson.

“They came and got us out of class again and sat us in a hall. Lots of people went to get changed but six of us refused, so we sat in isolation the rest of the day.”

A petition has now been launched in a bid to “bring back skirts to the Basildon Academies”, which has already been signed by more than 100 people.

Skirt protest

The pupil’s mum, aged 31, said: “I’ve been told the girls were rolling up their skirts which is why this is in place, but in my opinion it’s down to the parents to make sure their kids are in the correct uniform.

“Instead of giving the girls the chance to make the right decision for them it’s been taken away, nor did they have a discussion with them about this.

READ MORE: Students turn out in droves for protest at university after alleged sexual assaults

“Wearing skirts didn’t affect their work, it was them that disrupted their lessons, and they all had tights on.

“Nobody is expecting change overnight, but I fully support the girls in making their voices heard as long as they’re being behaved.”

The Basildon Academies were contacted for comment but did not respond to the Echo.