Classes begin in Pak’s 1st school for transgenders

Lahore, April 16: Pakistan’s first of its kind school for transgenders opened here on Monday to provide education and vocational skills to people from the community.

The Gender Guardian school has been opened by NGO Exploring Future Foundation ( EFF) in the Defence Housing Authority area of the city.

The NGO said Lahore -Pakistan’s second- most populous city -- has a population of about 30,000 transgender persons.

Classes commenced in the school, which offers a full 12 years of academic education from the primary level to matriculation and then leading up to college, said.

The school also has training- based courses in eight fields, including cooking, fashion designing and cosmetics, on offer.

“This school has been set up to educate the neglected and oppressed section its officials of society. It is unfortunate that transgenders are forced to live in isolation since their childhood,” says Asif Shahzad, the owner of the school.

He said there is no age limit for people to enroll as students in the school, which has 15 faculty members including three transgenders. “So far 40 transgender persons have been enrolled in the school. This is the only such school in any Islamic country in the world,” he claimed.

Shahzad lamented that parents hide the gender of their child and do not like to talk about the matter fearing society’s reaction.

— PTI