Kerala govt to re-admit HIV +ve kids back to school

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Kerala govt to re-admit kids back to school

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Thiruvananthapuram • It sounds like redemption for the hapless HIV

positive kids, thrown out of school. Kerala Government yesterday

decided to re-admit them, ready to face a possible backlash from the

rest of the parents.

The five children, in the 4-10 age group, stopped going to Mar

Dionysius Lower Primary School at Pampady in Kottayam district in

December last year after the management, under pressure form a vocal

section of parents, asked them to keep off.

Asha Kiran Orphanage, which looks after the kids-the boy in pre-

nursery, two girls in the second standard and two girls in the fourth

standard- petitioned the high-ups and awaited a solution.

A meeting held here yesterday by Education Minister M A Baby in the

presence of Opposition leader Oommen Chandy, who hails from Kottayam,

took four major decisions.

The rule would be waived to readmit the kids absent from classes

continuously for 15 days and parents who plan to pull out their kids

for fear of the HIV positive children would have await the decision

of the Director of Public Instruction.

The DPI might refer their application for transfer certificates to

the State Government. The Government has reassured the teachers that

they would protected in the same school in the event of parents

taking away their kids en bloc, leaving classes virtually empty. The

Government counts on the possibility of the issue reaching the State

Human Rights Commission, which could lay down clear-cut guidelines.

The Dionysius School authorities are waiting with bated breath,

unsure how other parents will react when the school reopens on

Monday. " We'd convened a meeting of the parent-teacher association.

But they're not prepared to listen to us, " said Elsamma, the

headmistress.

It was the local media that had blown the lid off the kids' identity

through flashy reports about their Aids Day performance on December

1, according to Kerala Aids Control Society official, who preferred

anonymity.

Asha Kiran orphanage authorities are relived by the latest Government

decision but saddened by the reaction of other parents. " I'd tried to

convince them that segregation harmed the kids more than the disease

itself. But they wouldn't listen and I'd to take my kids back to the

orphanage " , said orphanage secretary P C Yohannan.

This is not the first instance of HIV kids being sent out of school

in Kerala. Benson and Benzy and Akshara and Anandu, all siblings, had

to stay out for long spells after schools slammed the doors on them.

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