ALFRED FERNANDES
SANGUEM: With the agitating parents of the church-managed Rivona School determined to oppose admission to the 13 HIV-positive children and 23 other children of a convent, church authorities have now reportedly hardened their stand and are equally determined that the 23 children would pursue education at the Rivona school itself.
But what is of immense significance is that the 13 HIV positive children have been moved to a special school and care home for HIV children, in far flung corner. While that institution is a very credible and respected one, the act of sending the children away was forced upon the Rivona management, though it is discriminatory.
The adamant stand of the parents, which has evoked widespread condemnation across the State, has also infuriated church authorities and they are now reportedly willing to allow the protesting parents to withdraw their children from the school, if they so wish.
Reliable sources have told Herald that the church authorities are furious over the attitude of the protesting parents who have been steadfast in opposing admission to the 13 HIV positive children and 23 other children of the convent.
“In a last ditch effort to resolve the situation, the priests informed the agitating parents that the 13 HIV positive children were shifted out of Rivona and were accommodated in other schools. Not satisfied, the parents now also want the 23 normal children of the convent to be denied admission at the Rivona school.”
“In fact, the parents even wanted to see the medical reports of these 23 children to ensure that they did not have HIV or AIDS. The priests have flatly rejected this invasion of confidentiality. They categorically told the parents that these 23 children were fit and fine and their medical report had cleared them from illnesses, including HIV and AIDS,” said the source.
“Unwilling to accept the assurances of the priests, the parents insisted on pre-counselling and a medical test for these 23 children. The priests then insisted that in the interest of fair play and to avoid discrimination, all students of the school also be subjected to the same pre-counselling and medical test, to ensure that their children too are free from HIV and AIDS.”
School PTA President Domnick Cardozo said, “The parents do not accept this condition.” A complete shocker and a blatant illegal and unethical stand of the PTA president.
“Church authorities are determined to ensure that these 23 children of the convent pursue normal education at the Rivona school. If the parents are unhappy about this, the church authorities will make it clear that they are free to withdraw their children from the school,” the source added.
While the agitating parents await the decision of school authorities on July 11, the school had declared a two-day holiday on account of the prevailing tension. As a result, the otherwise busy school campus wore a deserted look on Wednesday, with no student or parent seen in the school premises.
Sanguem Mamlatdar Shankar Gaonkar visited the school campus on Wednesday morning to take stock of the law and order situation and returned on seeing the deserted school campus.
Meanwhile, the agitating parents want these children to be taught at the convent where the orphanage that houses them is situated. The parents have claimed that these students were being taught in the convent itself reportedly under financial assistance provided by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, until the nuns decided to shift these students to the Rivona school from this academic year.
The other option, agreeable to the parents, would be to distribute the 36 students among the five schools in the village. School PTA President Domnick Cardozo said: “In all, about 40 children from the convent are officially enrolled at the Rivona school. They were, however, being taught at the convent itself for all these years. We have no objection if the same procedure is continued.”
