THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Charting a new course, members of the transgender community in the state are all set to attend equivalency programmes. Under the ‘Samanwaya’ project of the state literacy mission, 145 members of the community have enrolled in Classes IV, VII, X and XII equivalency courses. Most of the ‘students’ had been forced to drop out of their earlier schools due to social ostracism.
Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma will formally launch the equivalency classes on January 28 in Kollam. Separate classes have been arranged in districts where more than 10 members of the community have enrolled in each course. Separate classes for Class X and higher secondary courses have been arranged in Thiruvananthapuram. Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha.In districts where enrolment is below 10, classes will be conducted along with the general equivalency programme.
Higher enrolment in southern distsKollam, where the programme will be launched, has the maximum number of enrolments at 35. While 20 members of the transgender community have enrolled in the Class X equivalency programme in Kollam, 15 have registered for higher secondary.Thiruvananthapuram has a total of 20 enrolments with 10 each in Class X and higher secondary. Pathanamthitta has 25 members of the community enrolled in the higher secondary equivalency programme alone. In Alappuzha, 10 have enrolled in the Class X equivalency programme.