AIDS school to open in Nagpur

NAGPUR: Kids living with AIDS or infected with HIV in the orange city and turned down by the mainstream schools will now have dedicated education facility. In a move hailed by the city’s social workers and AIDS counsellors as a welcome step, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) is taking the onus of educating HIV-infected children.
 
The first such school for 25 HIV-infected children is starting on Friday in a north Nagpur locality, while a few other branches are on the cards. Informed Atul Patne, additional municipal commissioner “It’ll be a transitional schooling to begin with, but students here will be taken care of in every aspect. From school dress to meals, they’ll get everything here.”

The civic body recently found in its survey of the city a growing graph of HIV-infected kids living an ostracised life. The sordid state of children prompted to take an immediate decision to launch a school, which would be slowly converted into a boarding school. Idea is to accommodate them into the society. Patne said once these kids have finished with their basic education, they could be admitted to our regular schools.

The NMC is deputing a teacher from its staff for the new school. It also plans to set up self-help-groups of HIV-infected parents of these kids. “We can extend them loans to start something of their own and live a dignified life.”