The right of girls to wear trousers to school rather than the traditional skirt is among a list of demands issued to the education partners by the new Union of Secondary Students (USS)
The union, set up during the ASTI dispute last year, has submitted the demands to education policy-makers and the Department of Education. It says the right of girls to wear the kind of uniform they want has become an important issue among pupils.
A spokesman, Mr Daire Hickey, said that while not all schoolgirls wanted to wear trousers, the choice should at least be provided by schools. There have been several disputes in secondary schools about the issue in the last two years.
Mr Hickey said that in some schools girls had been disciplined for wearing trousers, and this was not right when they were exercising a free choice. The USS is hoping to work with schools and the Department on some kind of compromise.
The USS has met Department officials and the NCCA in recent weeks to press its case, although it badly needs funding to be effective, said Mr Hickey. The Department of Education had given signals it might provide some funding, but that was almost a year ago.
Other issues it wants addressed are the length of history and classical studies papers at Leaving Cert level. Mr Hickey said students had complained about how much they were forced to write in these subjects. They wanted to keep the papers at the current length, but have more time to write their answers.