School uniform has now been a battleground between school and its pupils. Not wearing the correct one is often seen as an act of disobedience which result in detention or even a letter to home. In the recent memory we have seen school children striving to redefine the school dress code. But it has been observed for quite some time now that the school authorities have changed their approach too. They are pushing for a much neutral one, where girls can wear trousers and boys can wear skirts. The Uppingham School in Rutland, United Kingdom has reframed their policy on school uniforms. The headteacher of the country’s leading boarding schools declared that the boys will be allowed to wear skirts at the premise.

Richard Maloney, head at the Uppingham School in Rutland informed The Sunday Times that last year during the inclusivity week, one boy decided to wear a long skirt for a few days to make a point. He was quoted in the same report saying, “I would hope that any pupil could come to me and say, ‘This is who we are, this is how we wish to express ourselves. W e want to wear these clothes,’ and we would probably allow that.” The school counts popular English TV actors as its former pupils.

The public school admitted its first female student as a day-girl in 1973 and is now fully co-educational. At present, Uppingham still has separate uniforms for its male and female pupils. Boys wear charcoal trousers, white shirts and black jumpers and girls wear grey skirts, white shirts and red jumpers. Both wear black blazers. And one boy has been allowed to wear a dress to school. With the recent announcement, the authorities would react with sympathy if the boys at the school would like to come into the classroom wearing skirts. The school strives to make sure their boys and girls know they had the equal rights.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 09, 2018 02:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).