North Delhi MC begins gender sensitivity training for teachers

NEW DELHI: The North Delhi Municipal Corporation has started training all its 7,500 teachers and principals on promoting inclusion of children with transgender identities with other children in classrooms. The training has been initiated as part of promoting the goal of ‘Inclusive Education’ and is being done in multiple one-hour sessions in groups of 250 participants each. Sessions are being taken by Space NGO which has been working on participative inclusion of transgender persons in society for many years.

“The topics covered include — Understanding Transgender Terminology, What it means to be a Trans person in school? How can teachers create an enabling environment in schools for all genders? And myths, misconceptions and recent judgments on the subject,” said a statement by the civic body.

“The aim of the training is to ensure that every child, regardless of gender identity, is able to make full use of the educational opportunities available and to equip the teachers to be able to ensure full participation of all children in the classroom,” said an official from the North Delhi MC.

About 1000 teachers were trained in the first 2 days, with around 99 per cent active engagement. Showing their enthusiasm for the sessions, teachers asked a wide range of questions at the end of the session. The feedback given by the attendees is extremely positive, with most of them saying that the webinar definitely helps them recognize the needs of such children and equips them to better deal with their needs in the school setting. Earlier, the teachers were given training on Inclusion of Children with Special Needs in MCD Schools.