TIRUCHY: Construction of a hostel for gender non-conforming children in Tiruchy's Sivananda Balalaya is nearing completion.
A first of its kind, its construction began in July 2019 and is expected to be completed by February 2020.
The hostel will have three floors and can accommodate 40 students. The school has launched awareness campaigns to spread the message about the hostel.
The management is also raising awareness about the LQBTQIA community so that parents can better understand their children and know that what their child is going through is okay.
“Transgender students generally drop out of school in 5th standard or so and most parents disown them. The children then end up begging or doing other anti-social activities.
We want to urge parents to continue their child’s education. We are willing to support them and give them a holistic education and take care of them in our hostel,” said Major General (Retd.) NRK Babu, correspondent of the school.
Further, Babu, who is doing research about such children for more than two years, said one in every 2000 children was gender non-conforming, adding the school felt every child had the right to express itself and must get equal rights to grow.
Babu further explained that the awareness campaigns would be conducted through social media, radio and word of mouth.