Their crime: Thirteen of them were HIV infected, while the other 23 were perfectly normal, yet parents of students of the two schools, managed by two different congregations of the Church, refused to allow these 36 students to pursue their education along with their wards.
The problem started when the nuns taking care of the children got the 36 children to study in the Rivona School, on grounds of a Supreme Court order that no child could be discriminated. Following objections from parents of other students, the nuns shifted the children to a school in neighbouring Sulcorna.
The problem then got aggravated when parents of the Sulcorna School objected to the admission of the 36 children and threatened to withdraw their children from the school. The 36 children were brought back to the Rivona School, but parents there too opposed admission to them.
The parents of the students of the Rivona School were adamant that the 13 HIV children would have to move out of the school or else, be accommodated equally among all schools in the area. They also wanted to ascertain the health status of the other 23 children. A number of meetings were convened by government and church officials as well as NGOs to persuade the agitating parents of the Rivona School to accept the 36 children. The government and church leaders finally put their foot down and insisted on education to the 23 students unaffected by HIV at the Rivona School, but the damage had already been done. The 13 HIV positive students from the convent were subsequently shifted elsewhere in the State.
With the school management and government authorities remaining firm on the 23 students continuing with education at the Rivona School, a number of parents withdrew their children from the Rivona School.
