School denies admission to HIV-positive children

Updated on: Thursday, November 26, 2009

Kolkata: Little Samir wants to go back to school. Just like him, one of the few things 11-year-old Anjan misses the most is playing cricket with his schoolmates. But both have been unable to attend school for almost a year now. The little boys have one ‘crime’ in common. Anjan and Samir are carriers of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). And the school where they have sought admission has denied them entry.

As the nation gears up to celebrate World AIDS Day on December 1 with much fanfare, these two traumatised boys, who will obviously be away from the spotlight on that day, will be cursing their fate. Anjan and Samir are on the verge of losing an academic year. Neither the West Bengal State AIDS Control and Prevention Society (WBSACPS) nor the school education department has come to their rescue.

“Every morning when I see other kids going to school, I have an urge to pick up my school bag, too. Then I realise I have no school to go to,” said Samir (12).

Samir stays with 38 other HIV-positive children in Anandaghar, in the southern fringes of the city, that houses HIV-positive children who have been orphaned. Samir was brought here in 2007 after he lost both parents to AIDS. After his father’s death, Samir and his mother were made to live in a cow-shed in their Bongaon house when relatives came to know about their HIV status. In a year, Samir lost his mother, too.

“He would initially stay aloof, and stare blankly. Along with counselling and other therapies, the boy came out of the trauma after he started attending a nearby primary school in Langolberia,” said Kallol Ghosh, secretary of the Organisation For Friends Energy & Resources (OFFER), an NGO that runs Anandaghar.

Anjan, from Howrah’s Domjur, landed in Anandaghar in 2008 after losing both his parents to AIDS. The two boys attended a primary school in Gobinadapur from where they passed class IV. Their ordeal started when Anadaghar officials sought their admission in Langolberia Suraj Smriti
Vidyamadir, the nearest high school, in April.

The moment the school authorities found that they lived in Anandaghar and hence, HIV-positive, admission was denied, giving the alibi that parents of other children objected. When numerous appeals to the school committee failed, OFFER started sending repeated appeals to WBSAPCS and the school education department, seeking their intervention, but to no avail.

“Next academic session, 10 of our children need to move from primary school to high school. And if such is the apathy, it is like asking them to get confined, away from the mainstream,” said Ghosh. They are, however, not new to such apathy. Two years ago, 13 children of Anandaghar were barred from attending the primary school nearby. But with intervention from various quarters, the school was finally forced to take these children back.

When contacted, WBSACPS project director Sushanta Sen said he did not remember receiving a letter regarding the case of the two boys. “We try our best to mediate whenever children of Anandaghar are in problem. For the case of these two boys, I will have to look into the file,” said Sen.

School education minister Parha De, who was once the health minister, said he was aware of the problem. “We are trying to resolve it. But the issue is sensitive and if publicised, these children might face further problem. It is better to keep it under the carpet for now,” he added.

When each day is precious for these children, the two boys have spent seven long months without attending school, much to the agony of Samir and Anjan. “I have not been able to bat like Dhoni all these days. For what fault can I not go to school?” wondered Anjan.

School denies admission to HIV-positive children

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