*LAHORE: Pakistan’s first ever transgender school to provide education toPakistan’s transgender community has opened in Lahore.*
Offering full 12 years of academic education from primary to matriculationthis institute is named “The Gender Guardian”. It will later expand tocollege-level education as well.
The school for the transgender community was launched at an event at theAlhamra Open Air Theatre, Gaddafi Stadium. The school has no age limit andis located on main DHA, while classes at the institution will begin today(April 16).
According to Asif Shahzad, the owner of the school, there are currently 30people enrolled in the school.
“I was moved after seeing the bomb blast in Indonesia in 2016 at atransgender school,” he said. “It was the only such school in any Islamiccountry in the world. After that we decided to provide them education andbring them to the mainstream.”
The school owner said the organization was trying to convince them[transgender persons] of leading better lives, and also try to tell therest of society that they are also human beings, and that they should betreated as humans.
The event was supported by transgender activists Zara Changezi, KhursandBayar Ali, Neeli Rana and others from Khwaja Sirah Society, and recentlythe first transgender newscaster Maavia Maliklink>.Leaders, patrons and others from the community were also present at theevent.