Punjab Minister for Schools Murad Raas has on Tuesday stated to open a school for transgenders in Multan despite having plans for further educational institutes in other parts of the Punjab province.

“It was an entire community that we have sidelined previously and had never thought that they would be getting education or jobs,” Murad Raas said.

“They have taken the decision after meeting the representatives of the transgender community,” he added.

He said that they were asked why transgenders are not encouraged to join regular schools. “If they go to regular schools then children who do not understand the emotional side of it could hurt them by poking fun at them,” the education minister said.

Murad Raas, however, said that with a gradual process, they would bring more transgenders towards regular schools.

He said that they would be opening more schools for the community in other parts of the province and would also provide them with employment opportunities.

Earlier, the Department of Local Government and Community Development (LG&CD) had decided to allocate a 2% quota of vacancies in its various departments for transgender people.

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics had released the results of the 2017 census of people and households, according to which the total population of the country is 207.68 million, which is increasing by 2.4% annually.

The total population of the country includes 106,180,000 males, 101,34,400 females and 321,744 transgender people.

The department believed that transgender people are one of the weakest and most neglected communities in Pakistan and it is important to make them part of the workforce to protect and strengthen their rights.

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