GCU announces admissions for transgender students

Institution allocates special seats in undergraduate programmes

LAHORE:

In a unique move, Government College University (GCU) Lahore has decided to offer admissions for students of the transgender community, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Acknowledging the role of the transgender community in the country, GCU Lahore is opening its doors for its members this year for the first time in the history of the university, sources said.

Transgender students will be enrolled in various departments of the university. Reportedly, GCU Lahore has allocated special seats for transgender students in its undergraduate programmes to increase access of the underprivileged community to higher education.

GCU Lahore Vice Chancellor Dr Asghar Zaidi said that universities were a catalyst for change and GCU need to bring a change in the society where transgender students were accepted as lawyers, doctors, engineers, bureaucrats and politicians. “We need to educate and reform our society to a stage where parents accept and love their transgender children and bring them up with similar efforts and attention which they give to their cisgender sons and daughters,” he added.

The VC stated, “I believe an increase in the access to higher education for transgender students was a prerequisite for this change.”

He stressed that special seats were also needed in schools and other higher education institutions for the underprivileged community. “I express gratitude to the university’s chancellor and academic council members for supporting this decision of allocating special seats for transgender students.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 9^th, 2020.