Ground Report

The Kerala government has come to the rescue of five HIV-affected children here by directing a school to admit them.  The five children, residents of Asha Kiran, a rehabilitation centre for AIDS patients, after finishing their fourth standard faced an ordeal this year too to join the fifth standard at government high school at Alampally after the parents of other students threatened to pull their children out if they were admitted.Last year also 10-year-old Jyothi and the four other HIV-affected children had to battle their way back to primary school after they were forced out following opposition from parents.  They were re-admitted at the Mar Dionysis Lower Primary School at Pampadi after the state government intervened on their behalf and ordered for rehabilitation. However, the state government has come to their rescue this time also, directing the Alampally school to admit them.“The headmistress of the school told us they had received a letter from the government,” said Mr P.C. Yohannan Ramban, who runs Asha Kiran.  The AIDS Control Society was pressing them to send the kids to school. “Like other students these kids have the right to study at schools,” he said.