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NEW DELHI: With the National Human Rights Commission asserting the need to address the issue of dropouts among transgender students, the ministry of education is planning to put in place a comprehensive campaign aimed at identifying the root causes of dropout rates and implementing measures to mitigate them.
It is learnt from sources that at the NHRC core group meeting, the ministry also sought suggestions from transgender community members that can be included in the ‘Gender Inclusion Fund’ guidelines being prepared by the govt in keeping with the National Education Policy 2020. According to sources, the participants at the meet also put forth the view that it is important to give adequate coverage of transgender issues in the B.Ed. curriculum to sensitise future educators.
NHRC chairperson Justice Arun Mishra chaired a meeting of the core group on LGBTI issues on Feb 28. Prominent voices from the transgender community Laxmi Narayan Tripathi and Gauri Sawant who are part of the core group, representatives of the ministry of social justice and empowerment, ministry of education and members of the NHRC attended the meeting. Trans-inclusive education was one of the key focus areas of the meeting. “The Commission is soon expected to make recommendations to concerned ministries on the issues raised at the meeting,” sources said.
As per the 2011 census, the literacy rate of India was 74%, while it is only 56.1% for transgender persons. There were 54,854 trans-children between the age group of 0 to 6 years as per the census. According to sources, in the the NHRC core group meeting raised concern over how the enrollment of students from the transgender community in formal education remains low, with a persistently high dropout rate among students.
It was also observed at the meeting that it is evident that many enrolled transgender students may be discontinuing their education due to the un-welcoming environment at schools, primarily established from a binary gender perspective. The need to ensure separate toilets for transgender students in schools, unisex uniforms, anti-bullying and anti-discrimination policy were cited as critical measures to enable inclusive education.
It is learnt that during the discussion the core group also suggested that measures can be taken to step up efforts to integrate transgender persons into the police force as that would also help mitigate alleged harassment faced by transgender individuals.
It is learnt from sources that at the NHRC core group meeting, the ministry also sought suggestions from transgender community members that can be included in the ‘Gender Inclusion Fund’ guidelines being prepared by the govt in keeping with the National Education Policy 2020. According to sources, the participants at the meet also put forth the view that it is important to give adequate coverage of transgender issues in the B.Ed. curriculum to sensitise future educators.
NHRC chairperson Justice Arun Mishra chaired a meeting of the core group on LGBTI issues on Feb 28. Prominent voices from the transgender community Laxmi Narayan Tripathi and Gauri Sawant who are part of the core group, representatives of the ministry of social justice and empowerment, ministry of education and members of the NHRC attended the meeting. Trans-inclusive education was one of the key focus areas of the meeting. “The Commission is soon expected to make recommendations to concerned ministries on the issues raised at the meeting,” sources said.
As per the 2011 census, the literacy rate of India was 74%, while it is only 56.1% for transgender persons. There were 54,854 trans-children between the age group of 0 to 6 years as per the census. According to sources, in the the NHRC core group meeting raised concern over how the enrollment of students from the transgender community in formal education remains low, with a persistently high dropout rate among students.
It was also observed at the meeting that it is evident that many enrolled transgender students may be discontinuing their education due to the un-welcoming environment at schools, primarily established from a binary gender perspective. The need to ensure separate toilets for transgender students in schools, unisex uniforms, anti-bullying and anti-discrimination policy were cited as critical measures to enable inclusive education.
It is learnt that during the discussion the core group also suggested that measures can be taken to step up efforts to integrate transgender persons into the police force as that would also help mitigate alleged harassment faced by transgender individuals.
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