Prejudice fuelled by paranoia

Mother of a six-year old denied admission to two zonal schools in Kuliyapitiya because of HIV/AIDS rumours fights back:

by Ranil Wijayapala

Parents protesting

Mother with her child in front of the Zonal Education Office in Kuliyapitiya

Providing quality education to children is a wish of any parent. There are thousands of parents who fight tooth and nail to get a good school for their children.

However, a mother in Kuliyapitiya had to wage a different battle against the discrimination of her child to secure admission to the school of her choice due to rumors that her child is HIV positive.

The attention of education and health authorities has been drawn towards a new dimension as her battle raised many issues about a different form of discrimination against children for the first time in the country.

According to health authorities, though proved beyond any doubt that the child was not a HIV positive victim, a killer decease, the efforts of the authorities to convince parents who are against the admission of the child has been futile as they reject the arguments of the e health and education authorities.

Not only do they demand the removal of the child from school but also threaten to pull their children out if the child suffering from HIV remained in school. The mother of the discriminated child staged a protest in front of the Zonal Education Office in Kuliyapitiya demanding a school for her child.

Education Minister of the North Western Provincial Council Sandya Kumara Rajapaksa following a meeting on last Wednesday assured a school for the child before the end of the first term bringing a sigh of relief to the mother. The parents who were against the admission of the child has come under severe criticism of human rights organizations.

Despite the pledge the child would get a better school the case reached the Supreme Court on Friday as justice is being sought to the child whose fundamental right was violated by denying him a school.

In their petition the mother and her child subjected to discrimination have cited Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, Provincial Director of Education J.G.N. Thilakarathna, Zonal Director of Education A.S.K. Jayalath, the Principals of Bohandiya Primary School, Illukhena and Sripathi Royal College, Diyakalamulla as well as the Education Ministry Secretary, IGP and the Attorney General as Respondents.

In the petition she cited her husband died of Sepsis Tuberculosis on September 24, 2015 and a false rumor was circulated by those with vested interests that the child is affected by HIV positive and his father died of HIV/AIDS. Based on those rumors the principals of both schools were not willing to admit the child.

The situation, according to health authorities in the area who spoke to the Sunday Observer on condition of anonymity, was created after the death of the child’s father whom people suspected had died of AIDS.

“The child faced a similar situation when he was admitted to a pre-school in the area. The pre-school teacher intervened to educate the parents after subjecting the child to a HIV/AIDS test. That worked to convince the parents of the pre-school and they did not resist keeping the child be there in the pre-school. Though we tried to convince other parents that the child was not diagnosed for HIV positive it did not help”, the health official added.

Director Socially Transmitted Diseases and AIDS Control Program of the Health Ministry Dr. Sisira Liyanage said though they were invited by the Government Agent to settle the dispute the parents resisted saying they were aware of the disease.

“The parents who attended the meeting on Wednesday wanted the child be removed from the school and they refused to listen to us. This situation raise very serious issues regarding the AIDS awareness campaign in the country and also about the plight of the people living with AIDS in the country”, he added.

According to Dr. Liyanage there are around 4,000 suspected cases of AIDS in Sri Lanka of which only 2,000 have been identified. “People should be concerned not about those tested positive but those who are not aware that they are victims”, Dr. Liyanage added.

He said this situation urges the authorities to educate people about the stigma and discrimination against HIV/AIDS in a more effective way to ensure children with aids have access to education.

The discussion on the issue will be help us to launch a vigorous campaign on AIDS awareness at grassroots level”, he added. Meanwhile, Country Manager of the UNAIDS Sri Lanka Dr Dayanath Ranathunga commenting on this incident said UNAIDS is against any form of discrimination based on actual or perceived HIV status.

“We look at this as a violation of basic human rights to access to free education which has been endorsed by the constitution of Sri Lanka as well as by special circulars issued by the Ministry of Education maying education compulsory for every child,” he added.

“This has shown our HIV awareness campaign does not reach people at grassroots level. This is a clear indication of the need to have of HIV education integrated into the existing education system”, he added.

“What we need is a larger forum of stakeholders to ensure the child enjoys the right to education”, he added.He said 78 children were reported HIV positive in Sri Lanka and at present there are 2,310 cases being treated.

“This kind of discrimination will have a negative impact on the people since they will not want to be tested which would affect the effort to control the spread of AIDS in Sri Lanka,” he added.

General Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers Service Union Joseph Stalin said the approach taken by educational authorities in Kuliyapitiya was wrong as they urged the child should be admitted to a school outside the respective Educational Zone.

“If the Education Authorities took bold decisions to keep the child in the same school despite the parents protests the situation would have been controlled easily,” he added.

“We also see the decision taken by the Provincial Education Minister not appropriate as he suggested the child should be admitted to another school. What will they say if the same thing happen to another child in future”, he queried.

“If we have a culture where people reject a child from a school based on false rumor that he is having AIDS what is the use of spending so much of money for AIDS awareness campaigns in the country. Those programs need to reach out the grass roots level people in the country and we need to create an environment where HIV infected people also could live in society without being discriminated”, he added.