UK school bans skirts to make uniform 'gender neutral'

LONDON: A secondary school in the UK has banned girls from wearing skirts in a bid to make its uniform gender neutral and deal with complaints over the "decency" of short skirts.

Priory School in Lewes, east Sussex, has announced that starting from this autumn term, all new students must wear trousers, while returning students have the option to wear either trousers or skirts. Tony Smith, the headmaster, said he bought in the change because pupils had been questioning why the uniform ascribed certain garments to boys and others to girls. There had also been complaints from the wider community about the length.