14 February, 2025

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Education Ministry To Draw Up Guideline To Prevent HIV And Other Discriminations At Schools

The Ministry of Education is looking at introducing a guideline in an effort to prevent students from been discriminated, following the recent incident where a six year old boy was refused admission to the Sambodi Primary School in Kuliyapitiya as he was suspected to be HIV positive.

Education Minister - Akila Viraj Kariyawasam

Education Minister – Akila Viraj Kariyawasam

According to the Secretary to the Ministry of Education W. M. Bandusena at present there is no guideline issued by the authorities to deal with such issues, hence the ministry is looking at developing a guideline to deal with similar situations in the future.

However, after authorities intervened and the child was granted admission, on February 29, parents of some 179 students studying in the school removed their children from the school in protest for granting admission to the six year old child.

The child’s mother, Chandani Soysa said that there had been rumours saying that her husband died from HIV/AIDS, and hence the child had also contracted it. She however denied the rumours and said her husband died from a kidney failure.

A decision is to be taken as to whether to let the child continue schooling at Sambodi Primary School this week, due to the protests from other parents.

Latest comments

  • 1
    0

    Are there any directives banning children with HIV–real or imagined–from enrolling in schools?

    If not, then should they not be routinely enrolled without a politically expedient directive from the minister?

    I feel that through this frivolous exercise the minister is trying to avoid taking action against his errant, idiotic and uneducated officials for violating the fundamental rights of an innocent child.

    Shame on you, minister.

    This makes absolutely no sense.

    In the absence of any directive debarring students with HIV from enrolling in a school, they should be automatically admitted.

  • 0
    0

    “…six year old boy was refused admission to the Sambodi Primary School in Kuliyapitiya as he was suspected to be HIV positive.”

    The parents may be misled. The state can act to clear the child.

    If the child really is HIV positive, he will suffer at the school and an alternative may be needed.

    Right now, it is simplest to dispel unfounded fears by a simple blood test.

  • 1
    0

    The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a virus infection arising as a result of over zealous and multiple perverse sexual activities and use of needles.

    The citizens of Sri Lanka must broaden their knowledge to know that unlike common diseases like colds, flu, measles or chicken pox, HIV is not highly contagious. It is NOT transmitted through touching, hugging, sneezing, coughing, eating or drinking from common utensils, or being around an infected person.

    The Ministry guideline will be small step in the right direction but it must follow through with the wider national awareness programs and debates.

  • 0
    2

    Can CT investigate and find out the fundamentalism going on in the entire state sector schools – it is absurd that they can conveniently join the Islamopophic investigation on an International school and ignore this injustice happened to this innocent child

    • 2
      0

      The entire system of education ought to be examined. Most CT readers are aware only of Colombo.

      Every town in the country which is of above medium size has a major problem with traffic congestion early morning and early afternoon because of the tiniest of school children being transported to a “prestigious” town school. To me, this “Sambodi Primary School” sounds like the ideal school for children, away from the town centre, where the children ought to be. This is how the BBC has shown it to the world:

      http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35684441

      Unfortunately, it is probable that the handful of parents agitating for the removal of the child, are instead targeting one of the over-crowded town schools for their children, and so more children will get transported in to the towns.

      And now, apparently, the parents won’t allow doctors to come in to the school:

      http://newsfirst.lk/english/2016/03/sambodhi-primary-school-parents-shun-attempts-to-clear-hiv-misconceptions/129929

      What is the Zonal Director of Education in China for? His Assisitant can’t find a single school in Kuliyapitiya – the electorate of the Minister of Education – for this child to study in.

      I’m not in that area, but this sort of nonsense goes on all over the country:

      Let us never forget this other stigmatization eight years ago:

      http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/546

      This sort of nonsense in State Schools.

      Then there are the oldest, once very prestigious “Private Schools” with regulations so strange that nobody is allowed to understand them.

      But most prestigious of all are the “International Schools” which the Department of Education has nothing to do with.

      Then there is the huge “Private tuition” industry.

      Lastly, petroleum may be cheap now, but there is this theory that we owe school children subsidised transport. The use of Energy is a matter of global concern. We have elected a government. They must work out sustainable answers to all these questions.

      We citizens must think out these issues – there is no need for committees to inquire in to all this! Perhaps an article incorporating all these issues ought to be presented.

  • 0
    0

    If the ignorant parents driven to frenzy by rumours are protesting it is these silly parent’s problem. Where else will such moronic parents act in such a gross manner to cause untold harm to a child than in our thrice blessed country.

    These ignorant parents must be educated.

    A test can be done on the child to determine if he has AIDs. If he does not the idiotic parents who protested must be made to apologise publicly. Such an apology is the only way the immense trauma caused to this child and his mother be alleviated even in a small way.

  • 0
    0

    As far as I know these sensitive information is not released to the public. When and how did the Minister of Education get the authority to make public such sensitive information. Is he a doctor to say there are ways the child can contract HIV as he sleeps next to his mother. Is he living in the stone age?
    Is this kind of an Education Minister we have? He needs to be educated first before drafting guide lines.
    ALso how did the Zonal Education Director was privy to such sensitive information to say that the child’s father had died from HIV, and even the child’s mother is HIV+.
    I feel the Minister is behind the incident that is why he ordered provincial authorities including Zonal Education Director A. S. K. Jayalath against finding an amicable solution to the problem.
    You too have a son and you too come from the same Village. It is shame foryou to blame the Media. Because of the Media only the whole world got to know about it and the child was provided with a school. You did not have any shame to go to the school and sign that agreement.

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