News
- Expelling HIV positive students from school is a condemnable act-Priya Sherpa !!! - 2009-05-15
Priya Sherpa, a X grader staying in Maiti Nepal reacted vehemently when the shocking news of expulsion of three HIV positive kids from their school got published in a national daily. She immediately wrote a letter to the editor and condemned the shameful act done by the school administration.
Emotions and concerns evoked in the public when the news was published on May 13. Ghanashyam( 8 years), Manisha(6 years) and Aliza( 4 years) were prohibited from joining their school by the school administration under the stiff pressure of the local guardians. Aliza is not infected and she was expelled just because her parents are HIV positive. The three innocent children are the inmates of Akura Care Village at lekhnath-9 in Kaski district.
Owing to those actions, Priya Sherpa in her letter to the editor , which was published on May 14 writes-
" I was horribly appalled to learn about the expulsion of three students of Diamond Boarding School though one of them is not HIV infected. Despite our acquisition of immense information, people still consider HIV/AIDS a social stigma. Nonetheless, discriminatory attitude of the intellectual people towards the innocent children under the pretext of pressure is condemnable and intolerable."
She further States-
"Teachers, considered to be the symbol of light and harmony, have failed to convince and eliminate the orthodox belief. If a teacher succumbs to illogical and wayward feelings we cant anticipate any change at all among the illiterate and narrow-minded people. It is shame on those teachers and principal who acted in such a shameful manner by expelling the said students. All, including teachers, ought to gain the knowledge that people can become infected by HIV through unsafe sexual contact, sharing of unsterilised needles or transfusion of contaminated blood."
Finally she concludes, " The government must prepare and enforce strict laws to deal with people who discriminate against the HIV-positive people."
Maiti Nepal firmly believes that rights of the HIV survivors have to be made secure and they should be treated as any other normal human being.
