From now on, transgender students will no longer have to identity themselves as male or female when applying for co -ed engineering colleges. The definition of co-ed has now been broadened by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and it will also include transgender students.
This will be applicable from the session 2017-18. In the AICTE approval process handbook for the year 2017-18, which advices norms and standards for grant of approvals to technical institutions, this new definition has found a place.
Reacting on the matter, Anil Sahasrabudhe, chairman of AICTE said, from now on transgender students will be able to study technical courses without being discriminated as they no longer will have to recognize themselves as a male or a female.
In a report published in Hindustan Times, a senior official said, “There was an earlier communication from the HRD ministry regarding this and we have now included this in the approval handbook so that every institute can maintain data separately. It will also ensure that transgender students don’t face any discrimination.”
From now on, when maintaining data, all the institutes will have to ensure that there is a separate column for male, female and transgender students in the application forms.
The AICTE has also asked vice-chancellors of all the universities to incorporate a separate column for transgender students.
The Supreme Court in the year 2014 had said that the transgender students should be allowed to get admissions the way female and male student does. Also, they belong to the third gender and they should be given the employment on that basis.
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