Sex workers sign up for Ignou course

Education is said to be the passport to a better future. That thought has probably encouraged 20 teenaged sex workers to sign up for Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou) newly launched bachelor preparatory programme (BPP) for sex workers.

Sapna, 19, is one of them. "My brother is growing up and may soon resent my profession," she says. "When I got into sex work, I was desperate. But there is still a girl in me who wants to study." Sapna dropped out of school three years ago after her father died. Her younger brother and illiterate mother were in no position to put food on the table. When a neighbourhood brothel offered to sign her up for Rs 1,000 a day, she could not refuse.

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After three years of sex work, Sapna has now rediscovered her desire to study. Nineteen other girls like her from Ahmedabad and Wadia village have also signed up for the course in the last two days. Ahmedabad is only the second city after Kolkata to have the Ignou initiative.

There are an estimated 30,000 sex workers in Gujarat and 4,000-odd in Ahmedabad. Director of Ignou's regional centre in Ahmedabad, S K Ghosh says, "The number of sex workers signing up for the course is expected to increase manifold as we are holding meetings with voluntary agencies working with them." Initially, Ignou is offering BPP and a diploma in food and nutrition to the sex workers, and has waived fees for them.

"Our inspiration for this initiative came from our successful experience in state prisons where 10,000 inmates completed or are undergoing courses, ranging from BPP to post-graduate courses and diplomas," Ghosh adds. In a first, Ignou has prepared the course material in Gujarati for BPP and some diploma courses to increase its reach.

Researcher Bhumi Dave, who has studied the state's sex workers, says most of them have basic education. "Some 52% have secondary and higher secondary education. A degree can provide them better alternatives and self belief," she says.