Making schools trans kids friendly

Recently the NCERT shared on its website a document titled ‘Inclusion of Transgender Children in School Education: Concerns and Roadmap’ that was meant as training material for educators at schools. The document was subsequently removed from the site after the NCPCR sent notice to the NCERT against the manual following complaints raised against the material from certain sections. 

As a body tasked with ensuring the protection of child rights in India, the NCPCR’s move is inexplicable. The manual, which was welcomed by members of the LGBTQI+ community and put together by experts in the field, many with lived experience, is much-needed. Most transgender and non-binary children face discrimination, a lack of understanding and often violence in their natal homes. Many run away as a result. Well-informed teachers could ensure schools are made spaces of understanding and support for these vulnerable youngsters. The teachers would be better placed to protect them from bullying by their peers while also instilling sensitivity in other students.

The manual also provided suggestions on creating gender-neutral uniforms to make non-binary and trans children comfortable and significantly suggested that students not be segregated on gender lines. The impact of such treatment will go a long way in encouraging a mixing of children of all orientations. This will contribute to healthier relationships between cisgender girls and boys as well, which may help reduce gender-based violence amongst peers. 

Of course, a manual by itself may not redress all the biases and inequities. It would have to be backed by resources and proper training to ensure sensitivity among teachers and schools. But the criticism against the manual included that it imposed Western sensibilities on Indian contexts. This could be true perhaps as far as terminology went—regional language adaptations would be required—but LGBTQI+ individuals are very much a part of Indian society. Their rights have been affirmed by the highest court in the land in the 2014 NALSA verdict. Training educators to help create a society that recognises their personhood in which they may live and thrive is not only the right thing to do, it is the state’s duty to ensure it.