THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Breaking new ground, 35 transgender(TG) persons will appear for the Higher Secondary equivalent examination conducted by the Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority(KSLMA) on Saturday. The candidates are enrolled in ‘Samanwaya’, the Literacy Mission’s continuing education programme. Around 23,542 candidates will appear for the exams at 145 centres across the state. Of these, 16,045 will take the first year higher secondary exams while 7,462 candidates will appear for second year exams.
Kollam and Pathanamthitta districts with 11 students each account for the highest number of TG students appearing for the exam, followed by Thiruvananthapuram(eight candidates) Kozhikode(two) and Ernakulam, Thrissur and Idukki(one each). The examination will end on November 25.
The Literacy Mission survey found 918 TG persons were interested in pursuing education till the higher secondary level. It has also instituted scholarships for TG students. Those attending equivalent classes from IV to X will get 1,000 while those appearing in Higher Secondary classes will get 1,250.
Further the KSLMA survey found around half of the TG community in the state subsist on a monthly income of `1,000 or less. While 28.53 per cent of respondents had a monthly income between `1,000 -`5,000, 19.46 per cent earned between `5,000 and `10,000.The survey found only 1.2 per cent of the TG persons surveyed is unable to read or write.
The number of school dropouts among transgenders increased as they progressed to higher classes, mostly due to social stigma. The majority of TG students(40 per cent) dropped out between Classes VII and X, with 10.61 per cent dropping out of school between Classes IV and VII. Also, it emerged 26.55 per cent had passed Plus Two. TG persons with graduate and postgraduate qualification are 13.60 per cent and 2.10 per cent, respectively.