GUWAHATI, Oct 22 - For the first time in the Assam, a teachers� organisation is going to start a drive in every nook and corner of the State with the aim to sensitise the general public about the needs and rights of transgender children to avail proper education.
The Assam State Lower Primary Teachers� Association (ASLPTA) has taken up the step at a time when activists fighting for the rights of the transgender community of Assam have claimed that more than 60 per cent transgender children are victims of school dropout due to various social evils.
Explaining about their action plan to carry out the drive, general secretary of the Association Ratul Chandra Goswami said, �This is a new concept for all of us with numerous challenges. In Assam, it is very difficult to access any data about the transgender students and children. So, we have to move step by step.�
He informed that as part of the drive, in the initial stage, teachers of every lower primary school of Assam will discuss about the rights of transgender students in the meeting of school management committees and mothers groups. The teachers� organisation will take a further step in this regard in consultation with human rights organisations working in the State.
�Every child is equal and has equal rights to education. Unfortunately, our new education policy and the RTE Act do not talk much about the rights of this section of children,� said Goswami, who recently took part in a two-day workshop on the education of transgender children organised by the �Education International-Asia Pacific Region� in New Delhi.
Protests: The primary teachers of the State will carry out a series of protests in support of their various demands between November and January, a statement issued here today said.
According to the statement, on November 30, primary teachers will carry out protests in their respective blocks, on December 23 protests will be held in every district headquarter and on January 20 and 21 they will stage their protest in Guwahati.
