Kerala: HIV kids admitted to school at last

August 6, 2004

HIV kids admitted to school at last

P K SURENDRAN

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 04, 2004 01:52:57 PM ]

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A fortnight long conciliatory efforts of the

district administration, Education Department, and various voluntary

organisations have enabled two HIV-infected children to get admitted

into school in Kannur district of North Kerala.

Akshara and her brother Ananthu have begun attending classes at the

Swamy Narayana Lower primary School near Kottiyoor, albeit in a

separate classroom. While Akshara was admitted to the second class,

Ananthu secured admission in the first standard. In a pathbreaking

incident parents of two children have allowed their kids to share

the classroom with Akshara and Ananthu. A partime teacher , K Vinod

Kumar, has undertaken the task of educating the kids.

The deadlock over their admission ended following a series of

meetings of the administration nd Kottiyoor panchayat President K J

ph with the parents and teachers association of the school and

with the locals. The trouble started 15 days back when parents of

the school students and locals refused to allow the two children to

join the school. The children's mother, Rema, who was also infected

with HIV, protested against this at the Secretariat at

Thiruvananthapuram last month.

The children's father died a few years ago due to AIDS. Moved by

the plight of the children, Chief Minister A K Antony directed the

Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI) to take measures to ensure

the admission of the kids into the school. However the resistance

from the parents and school staff delayed it for many days.

Awareness campaign, conciliatory gesture negotiations all went in to

make the move a success.

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