One Rani Khan has set up the first transgender-only madrasa with her life savings.
Transgender people have faced discrimination in formal education system, although there is no official restriction on them attending schools or offering prayers in mosques.
“Families do not accept transgender people. They throw them out of their homes. Transgenders turn to wrongdoing. At one time, I was also one of them,” said Khan.
Rani Khan was disowned by her family at the age of 13 and forced into begging. She joined a transgender group at the age of 17. She earned living by dancing at weddings and other events.
However, she quit this work when a deceased fellow transgender persuaded her to do something for the community in a dream.
Khan studied Quran at home and attended religious schools before opening the two-room madrasa in October.
“I am teaching the Quran to please God, to make my life here and in the hereafter.”
She further said that the school did not receive aid from the government, although some officials promised to help students find jobs.
With the help of some donations, Rina is teaching her students how to sew and embroider in hopes of raising funds for the school by selling clothes.
Pakistan’s parliament recognised the third gender in 2018, giving such individuals fundamental rights such as the ability to vote and choose their gender on official documents.
Nonetheless, the transgender community remains on the margins in the country and often has to resort to begging, dancing and prostitution to make a living.
Pakistan’s 2017 census recorded about 10,000 transgender people, though trans rights groups say the number could now be well over 300,000 in the country of 220 million.
