SC seeks Centre, NCERT response on plea seeking transgender-inclusive sexuality education

The Supreme Court on Monday (September 1, 2025) sought responses from the Union Government, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), and several States on a petition seeking the integration of transgender-inclusive comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) into school curricula across the country.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran issued notice on the petition filed by Kaavya Mukherjee Saha, a 16-year-old student from Delhi, and directed the respondents to file their replies within six weeks.

Also read | India needs comprehensive sexuality education 

Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan submitted that despite the Supreme Court’s 2014 judgment in National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India mandating the integration of CSE into school education, the directive remains unimplemented. He cited a recent Right to Information (RTI) reply in which NCERT admitted it had “no information” on the introduction of such material in its curriculum.

“This shows the orders of this court remain unimplemented,” Mr. Sankaranarayanan said, stressing that sexuality education must encompass gender sensitisation and transgender-inclusive perspectives.

The plea alleged that the NCERT and most State Councils of Educational Research and Training (SCERTs) had failed to include examinable modules on gender identity, gender diversity, and the distinction between sex and gender, despite explicit obligations under Sections 2(d) and 13 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. Textbook reviews from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka reportedly revealed systemic omissions, with Kerala standing out only as a partial exception.

The petitioner contended that these omissions violated the right to equality and undermined the Directive Principles of State Policy. Directions were therefore sought to mandate the inclusion of “scientifically accurate, age-appropriate” and transgender-inclusive CSE in examinable syllabi across the country.

The petition also relied on the Supreme Court’s December 2024 ruling, which had underscored the key role sexuality education played in curbing child marriages. A three-judge Bench led by then CJI D.Y. Chandrachud had observed that CSE “play a vital role in changing societal perceptions about child marriage and promoting girls’ education.” The Bench had directed States and Union Territories to integrate CSE into school syllabi in line with frameworks developed by the World Health Organisation and other global experts.

Notably, the judgment had also created reporting obligations, requiring teachers and principals to immediately notify authorities if a girl student dropped out of school, so that timely intervention could prevent an early or forced marriage. The ruling had been delivered on a public interest litigation filed in 2017 by the NGO Society for Enlightenment and Voluntary Action and activist Nirmal Gorana, which had flagged poor enforcement of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.