SYDNEY, July 15 (Xinhua) -- All girls in Australia's Queensland state schools will be allowed to wear shorts and pants next year as part of a major uniform update in line with their needs and preferences, instead of the skirts or dresses mandated for many of them.
"We know around 60 percent of state schools are already offering these uniform options for girls, but we found that some schools had not updated their student dress codes in many years," the state's Education Minister Grace Grace said in a statement on Sunday.
"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."
The latest dress code followed "an extensive review and consultation with stakeholders," Grace said.
"Following consultation with our whole school community, we found that around half of our primary school girls did not want to wear a skirt to school," said the executive principal of the state's Stretton State College Jan Maresca, who has rolled out changes to the school's uniform policy.
"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."
