Govt unveils plan for transgender students

Pupils to have dedicated classrooms in all govt schools across Lahore

LAHORE:

The District Education Council in Lahore is planning to allocate special classes for the transgender community in all 260 Union Council government schools, The Express Tribune has learned.

The aim is to create educational opportunities for members of the community. Under the plan, each high school in Lahore’s Union Councils will dedicate two classrooms and one teacher for transgender students. The chief executive officer (CEO) of council will personally oversee the education and facilities provided to the transgender community in these allocated schools.

Meanwhile, there has been an encouraging trend of increased interest in education among transgender community members.

As per the statistics of the Punjab School Education Department, a total of 1,488 transgender individuals are currently enrolled in public schools across Punjab.

The District Education Authority of Lahore is working diligently to create educational opportunities for transgender community members.

A meeting was held at the Chief Executive Officer’s office, where it was decided that all Union Councils in Lahore would be involved in this initiative, ensuring maximum opportunities for transgender individuals to access education.

Transgender community members and representatives had been disheartened since last month when the only school dedicated to transgender students was closed due to a lack of funds.

The PTI government had opened the first transgender school in Lahore’s Garden Town area, with allocated funds. However, the school had to be closed last month due to insufficient funds. More than 40 transgender students were enrolled in that school and the former government had also hired community members to educate them. The closure of this school deeply upset the transgender community, leading them to voice their concerns about the closure of their schools.

“The closure of transgender schools in Lahore was a disappointment for us as it was on our minds while we are planning to launch this new education plan for the community. Several factors, including the lack of funds, led to the closure of the project,” District Education Authority CEO Pervaiz Akhtar said.

He elaborated that one major issue was transportation as transgender community members from various areas of the city had to travel to the Garden Town area for education.

“It was challenging to manage transportation with limited funds to provide for the students. Now, the District Education Authority of Lahore has decided to allocate classes and teachers in all Union Councils of Lahore so that transgender students can receive education in their own areas,” Akhtar said while elaborating the difficulties faced in the project.

“We do not need to hire special teachers on contract as we already have our own teachers who will teach them. Furthermore, there is no need to purchase additional infrastructure as we are allocating two classrooms for community members. In the coming months, we will launch a campaign to encourage admissions for transgender community members so that a maximum number of individuals can attend public schools,” the official said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2023.