By Trudy Simpson, Staff ReporterTHE MINISTRY of Education yesterday issued a strong warning to educational institutions islandwide, following reports that two more students have been booted out of schools because they are HIV-positive.
The ministry is warning that no student should be denied admission or continued attendance because of his or her HIV status.
"Every child can learn ... every child must learn," the ministry said. It also warned that no student or parent on behalf of the student or educator should be forced to disclose his or her HIV-positive status to school or employer.
PRIVATE PREP SCHOOLS
Last week, the Jamaica AIDS Support (JAS) and the
St. James Parish AIDS Action Committee disclosed that two students were turned away from two private prep schools in St. Ann and St. Mary because they were said to be HIV-positive. Subsequently, two more students, from basic schools in St. Catherine and Kingston, have been kicked out because of their HIV status.
PROGRESS WITH INVESTIGATIONS
The ministry said that it has not made much progress with its investigations into reports about the two basic schools, where administrators reportedly asked parents and guardians to remove the children.
Dorrett Campbell, public relations officer at the education ministry, said that a meeting is to be held on Friday between ministry officials and the principal of the preparatory school in St. Mary. Ms. Campbell said other affected parties are to attend Friday's meeting, including a health promotion specialist and Donna Marie Hamilton-Ross, chairperson of the St. James Parish AIDS Action Committee. The principal of the school in St. Ann has since refuted the claim.
"That's not true. We did not refuse to accept the children," the principal advised The Gleaner. "The children were still under discussion. When we had spoken to her (Hamilton-Ross), a lot of things came to mind that we needed to look at. As far as I know, the matter was still pending."
The principal said the matter was about to be discussed with the school board with the aim being to educate teachers about the precautions to be taken when dealing with HIV-affected persons. The principal said the school also needed time to put in other measures, such as how to deal with cuts, to facilitate acceptance of the children.
VERY DIFFICULT FOR CHILDREN
However, Dr. Yitades Gebre, executive director of the national HIV/STI/Control programme, has explained that "It is very difficult for children of any age to get HIV from contact at school. Therefore the risks of infection of other children cannot be used as a reason to exclude children with HIV from a school."
The Health Ministry estimates that there are about 800 HIV-infected children in Jamaica.
