NGO alleges school threw out HIV positive boys

An alleged case of a Gurgaon school expelling eight HIV positive students has come to light here. The Haryana Education Department has ordered an inquiry into the allegation and has directed the district education officer (DEO) to submit a report by Monday.

An alleged case of a Gurgaon school expelling eight HIV positive students has come to light here. The Haryana Education Department has ordered an inquiry into the allegation and has directed the district education officer (DEO) to submit a report by Monday.

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The department has also assured that the eight boys, currently studying in a government school Bhondsi Village, would not be subjected to any discrimination nor will they be moved from there.

Gurgaon-based NGO Drone Foundation has alleged that eight boys, aged between 3 and 12, were expelled from Delhi Public School (DPS) Maruti Kunj in August 2009.

Now the NGO said since the HIV status of the boys has become public knowledge they minors will face discrimination at the government school.

Seven HIV positive girls are also under the care of the NGO are currently studying in a local government school.

"The girls could also face similar treatment from other students," said Ankur Gupta of Drone Foundation. All the 15 children have lost their parents to the deadly disease and the NGO currently takes care of them.

Gupta alleged that DPS Maruti Kunj denied entry to the boys in August 2009 after the summer vacations on the pretext of absence of infrastructure and expertise to teach HIV infected students. The boys had taken admission in March 2009.

But school principal Rachna Pandit refuted the allegations and said the students were never admitted in DPS but had joined the afternoon classes organised for underprivileged children.

"The eight students came for 4-5 days but we told the NGO that we lacked infrastructure as well as expertise to deal with children infected with AIDS. One of the boys vomited blood and we were helpless to tackle the situation. We had never taken these children on rolls," she added.

According to the Haryana School Education Department Rules, any school which has been recognised by the state government will be open for admission to all, without any discrimination based on religion, caste, race, place of birth.