The school said it wanted children to be comfortable taking part and that trousers and leggings could be worn under the skirts if needed.

Male and female students of Castleview Primary in Edinburgh as young as three have been asked by the institution to start wearing skirts to ‘promote equality.

An email to parents from Castleview said it wanted children to be ‘comfortable’ taking part and that trousers and leggings could be worn under the skirts if needed.

The school even offered to provide skirts for some youngsters if none were suitable at home. Teachers can wear skirts too.

The school said pupils in P6, the equivalent of Year 6 in England, came up with the idea after becoming aware of the Spanish campaign.

It added: ‘We want our school to be inclusive and promote equality.’

Teachers wrote to parents: ‘We’re keen to spread the message that clothes don’t have a gender and that we should all be free to express ourselves as we choose.’

The request has been criticized by some parents.

One mother called Megan with a son at the school tweeted: ‘My son is five and just got this from the school! Let kids be kids.’

Another Twitter user called Nicola replied: ‘If a boy wants to wear a skirt to school, he should be allowed, but why put pressure on people to ask their son to wear a skirt or be seen as some sort of bigot?’

It follows a similar move in Spain where teachers and children have worn skirts to show solidarity with a boy who was expelled for wearing one last year.

November 4 is now ‘wear a skirt to school day’ in Spain.

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