Indian not-for-profit organization establishes school for HIV-positive children

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Sep 26 2006

The not-for-profit organization Karunalayam last week opened a school in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh that plans to educate exclusively HIV-positive children who have been turned away by other schools, officials said Thursday, AFP/Today Online reports.

The school, which is located in the southern Warrangal district of Andhra Pradesh, currently has seven students and a staff composed of one HIV/AIDS counselor, one teacher and one nurse, according to AFP/Today Online.

"We teach them local and English alphabets, mathematics and also take care of their medical needs. Here the concept is of exclusive care.

In some schools HIV-positive kids are pushed around by other children and looked down upon," Jyotish Joseph, director of Karunalayam, said, adding, "Others deny them admission.

They face no such problems in our school." According to Joseph, school organizers plan to increase enrollment to about 25 HIV-positive students and open similar schools in other regions.

"In India there is a lack of awareness about HIV/AIDS among teachers and parents," Joseph said, adding, "There needs to be more education" (AFP/Today Online, 9/21).

This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.