Southern States - Kerala   

HIV-infected children discriminated against in schools

By Shyama Rajagopal

KOCHI NOVEMBER 30. Despite the assurance given by the State Government to provide support to the families of AIDS victims, several HIV-positive children continue to be discriminated against in educational institutes. Many instances of HIV-infected children being denied admission to schools have been reported from Ernakulam district.

In one case, a girl child who had completed UKG was allegedly denied admission to the first standard. This matter was brought to the attention of the District Collector, who sought an explanation from the school concerned. However, the school management, in a written reply to the Collector, contended that the family had pulled the student out of school of their own accord. The school had not denied admission to the student, it said.

When contacted, the family members said that as the school had clearly stated that it would not admit HIV-infected children, there was no point in taking the child back to school just to create a `public spectacle'. The Parent Teacher Association of the school had strongly objected to the admission of the girl, they said. The family later approached the local Government school, where too the PTA objected to admitting the child. The Principal of the school allegedly insisted that he wanted to see the reason for a transfer from the earlier school.

Yet another child demands to know why she cannot go to school when a doctor from a "big hospital" (medical college) had certified her to be in good health. The child's father had succumbed to AIDS in May. The family is supported by the deceased person's father and brother.

Another family in the district has no means to support it. They live on what their neighbours provide them. "They have been supportive all through," says the wife of a person who had committed suicide on learning that he was HIV-infected The neighbours had approached the local school to admit the younger child who had tested HIV-negative. However, the mother is worried about the fate of the elder child who is HIV-positive. The family has also been ostracised by society. The younger child now lives with her mother, while her sister lives with her grandparents out of fear of the stigma of society.

According to the representatives of the unit of the Kerala State AIDS Control Society, which has a project called Partnership in Sexual Health, with the Social Work Department of the Sree Sankaracharya University, Kalady, awareness campaign against HIV and AIDS do help but these measures have to be repeated at regular intervals.

The current focus of the project is targeted at intervention to check the spread of AIDS. This will probably change to support and care from next year, when the term of the project ends.

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