Key facts
- Northern Ireland schools must offer girls the choice to wear trousers as part of their uniforms.
- The change will take effect next year.
- Education Minister Paul Givan announced the revised guidelines.
- A law passed last year granted girls the legal right to challenge uniform bans on trousers.
- Campaigners had pressured the minister to revise existing guidelines.
- The revised guidelines aim to balance school autonomy with departmental prescriptions.
Schools in Northern Ireland will be required to offer girls the option to wear trousers as part of their uniforms, including for physical education and games, following revised guidelines. The change, announced by Education Minister Paul Givan on Friday, will come into effect next year, meaning schools can no longer prohibit female pupils from wearing trousers.
This decision follows pressure from campaigners who argued that existing guidelines did not go far enough. A law enacted last year had already provided girls with the legal right to challenge schools that banned them from wearing trousers. Givan stated that the revised guidelines aim to strike a balance between the autonomy of schools and the level of prescription in departmental guidelines, emphasizing that "girls want the choice to wear trousers as part of their school uniform."
The revised guidelines will not be implemented immediately, allowing schools time to update their policies. Other political parties welcomed the move but criticized the minister for delays. Nick Mathison, an Alliance MLA and chair of the Stormont assembly education committee, expressed satisfaction that the minister had reversed his initial stance, thanking the young campaigners for their efforts. Cathy Mason, a Sinn Féin MLA, commented that the right for girls to wear trousers should not have been controversial or required further legislative action. Cara Hunter, a Social Democratic and Labour party MLA, also credited young people for their persistence in challenging the rules.