HIV-positive kids still face harsh discrimination

It was just the second day of classes of the new school year, yet the An Nhon Tay Primary School in Ho Chi Minh City’s Cu Chi District was nearly empty on Tuesday. Just 98 students turned up with between five and 10 students in each class. It wasn’t because enrollment numbers were down this year, however, or because of influenza A (H1N1) fears. The reason for the sparsely populated school was in fact because hundreds of parents pulled their children out of classes upon learning the school had admitted 15 HIV-positive students this year. Principal Nguyen Van Chan said that on the first day of classes, many parents rushed into the building to remove their kids after seeing students from the local Mai Hoa Center for HIV-affected children entering the school. “In total, 255 students followed their parents home, and only 44 students stayed at school,” despite the school’s efforts to convince parents to let the kids stay, said Chan. Not until the school sent the 15 HIV-affected children back to Mai Hoa, did some parents allow their kids to return on Tuesday, a teacher said. The incident was a bitter experience, say officials from both An Nhon Tay School and the Mai Hoa center, as the two schools have made significant efforts to integrate the Mai Hoa children into the public school. The 15 children, mostly orphans, had been attending second to fifth grade classes at the center when they were finally given permission to transfer to An Nhon Tay School. Up until recently, nuns from Mai Hoa had been bringing the 15 kids to join some of the school’s ceremonies as well as festivals and sightseeing tours. Mai Hoa had applied for permission to let the HIV-affected children attend classes at An Nhon Tay School this year and had gained approval from the district’s education division, according to Chan. Yet, in the end, they still failed to gain approval from parents whose children were attending the school. “From the teachers’ viewpoint, all students are the same and should have the chance to go to school and study,” Chan said. “However, [allowing HIV-infected kids to attend a public school] is a very sensitive problem and it’s difficult to get society’s acceptance,” he said. “What we are most concerned about is that the HIV-affected children may get hurt [emotionally]. They are too little to be aware [of the stigma],” Chan added. A dream out of reach Since 2006, the Mai Hoa center has been making efforts to give the 15 children, of whom most were infected with HIV from their parents, the same education as offered in public schools. In 2007, Cu Chi District authorities finally agreed to let Mai Hoa offer academic classes for the children with textbooks provided by An Nhon Dong Primary School. However, they were still refused when applying to send the children to public schools last year. The children, who have already faced a host of untold hardships in their young lives, were extremely excited and hopeful upon learning of their acceptance into An Nhon Tay School this year, said Sister Bao from Mai Hoa. “The night before the first day of school the children were so excited,” Sister Bao said. “In the morning they got up at 5:30 a.m. and were ready to go to school. “But in the end, parents objected so much. My heart was broken seeing them stare at and dodge the kids,” Sister Bao said, adding that several of the Mai Hoa children began crying upon learning they would have to return to the center for the rest of the school year. A conference held in May on care programs for children with HIV/AIDS or who have family members with the disease, heard that discrimination against such kids is still rampant in Vietnam despite some schools accepting the children. Source: Tuoi Tre

Story from Thanh Nien News Published: 20 August, 2009