Lahore's first transgender school

Lahore's first transgender school
Transgender, School, Lahore, Punjab

After the opening of this school, the number of schools for transgenders in Punjab will increase to four.

The first transgender school of its kind is being inaugurated in Lahore on Wednesday under the Punjab School Education Department. After the opening of this school, the number of schools for transgenders in Punjab will increase to four.

Regarding this school, Minister for Punjab School Education Department Murad Ras told that: "This is the first school in Lahore." When we first opened this school in Multan, it was the first school in the world to be opened for transgenders. Many people contacted us and asked how we took this step.

Sara Rehman, spokesperson of Punjab School Education Department, while explaining the school in details she, said: 'We were trying for three to five months to start this school, to open a school in Lahore also because there is a large population of them here. In this regard, we started sitting with the transgender community. Regarding this project, we also faced criticism from various quarters. Despite all this, we did not back down from this project.

She said that this school has been started in Government Girls High School Barkat Market Garden Town in Lahore. A separate space for transgenders has been created in it by building a wall.

œWe chose this area because it is accessible to this community. In the adjacent areas of Johar Town, Muslim Town, Barkat Market, we see members of this community at more intersections. That's why we built a school here.

Sarah said that the school is open to anyone from the trans community, whether it is a child or an adult. Neither we have set a specific number to keep, as many students as they want can come here.

Sara Rehman said that initially the school hours are from 10 am to 12 noon.

" Whatever we decide, we discuss with the community and look out for their welfare. Apart from this, the students coming here will also have the opportunity to learn a skill in the same school for half an hour after studies.

Sarah said that teachers are trained to teach them. We will first test these students to determine which educational level will be suitable for which student.

She said that the teachers who teach them are not only trained to teach them but also psychologically trained so that they can better understand the people of this community.

These people are coming from an unusual environment; they have not seen the school environment before. They will have to teach all the little things. As far as teaching them skills is concerned, we have taken those teachers from their community.

She said that transgender students belonging to any section of the society can come in this school; the doors are open for all. According to Sarah, this school will be from Monday to Friday like other schools.

She said that our agenda is to provide psychological support to them, but according to the resources we have, we are taking steps like children.

We are facing backlash in this regard right now but we are trying our best to fight it head on and the media is also supporting it. However, we have trained the teachers psychologically on how to deal with their problems like if someone had a problem in the past or if someone has gone through some serious pain, with love and respect.

But the truth is that the counseling service is not there yet, we will gradually move towards it. Now we will see how this school is run, how the community is engaged, what is the reaction of the people.

She said that as far as bringing these students into the mainstream is concerned, it may not be possible now because there is so much noise about making a separate school, so to bring them into the mainstream, there is a need to change social attitudes. Required. For which a whole strategy should be made and when the conversation will be at this level then it will make a difference gradually that people will accept them.

According to the Minister of School Education, Murad Ras: "We started this school because transgender people are the part of our society that is kept against the wall." They are not given opportunities for education, employment or anything else. We were ready to make all kinds of comments about them but were not ready to do anything for their betterment.

"I think the most basic starting point for him was education. So I thought that education should be started for them first because while we have to change their mindset, we also have to change the mindset of other people regarding them. When it has to be changed, it takes time and effort which our team has put in a lot.

It should be remembered that earlier in 2020, the Government College University of Lahore had allocated one seat for transgenders in each academic department of the university. And also announced that the eunuch who gets good marks will be admitted to the university.