Since the issue is extremely sensitive, prudence dictates that all sides are heard, a reasoned debate and discussion takes place and a decision taken so that the matter is closed and the children can go back to where they belong, in a classroom full of laughter and happiness.
The process of consultation and involvement of all parents is desirable in order to make every parent willingly a party to the decision in the best interests of all children in the school. And there can only be one decision that is in the best interests of all. Ensure that all the children from the orphanage (Herald is deliberately holding back names of all institutions involved in this, even though it’s in the public domain) continue attending classes on the basis of admissions they have secured.
There can be no other way. There should not be any other way. Both prudence as well as jurisprudence dictates that the issue should be closed because no argument can justify any reason for a) forcing them not to study in the school nearest to them or b) segregating them and making some go to other schools.
These students have lives in the orphanage and looked after with care and affection. Some of them are indeed HIV positive, being probably born of parents who were and who are no longer there. The orphanage also has other children not afflicted. The admissions of all them to this Rivona school have been secured earlier. It is only when some parents of other children got to know about the presence of HIV positive children that a huge hue and cry was raised, forcing the orphanage to admit them to another school a further away in Sulcorna. But fate followed them there too when some parents who lived in Rivona but had children studying in Sulcorna recognized these children and then started another round of agitations till the stake holders met and decided to move them back to their original school in Rivona. And then again the Rivona school parents started agitating asking these children to be withdrawn or scattered. Let these parents tell us if they are willing to scatter their children to other schools, further away. If not then why should HIV positive children be discriminated. These parents are guilty on several counts. They have identified such children and will force them to go through severe trauma and depression. These scars will hamper them for life and will not allow them to integrate into society. This is nothing short of a crime against these children, in the grip of an affliction which could be life threatening.
It is about time that the government steps in to deal with agitating parents with an extremely strong hand. Herald, with all due respect to these parents and their sentiments, states that it’s NOT with them but with the orphaned children of Rivona. They deserve our support at a time when those who should be with them are not really standing up. The school, which should state unequivocally that it will not have any further discussion on this but is willing to spend days, months and even years setting up a mechanism to sensitize parents and society as a whole, but is only trying to diffuse tension by buying time, the state government and the education department which is behaving like a police station, by saying it will act when it receives a complaint. It is baffling to hear such a response since we do not quite know what kind of a complaint the government is waiting for.
Meanwhile, the State Commission for the protection of Child rights has directed the school to ensure that the children continue studying, so what is the school waiting for?
In the middle of this sea of negativity, there is only one group of wonderful people who are really positive- the children of the Rivona orphanage and the nuns who look after them. May God be with them, because all others have proved to be far lesser mortals.
