Ignorance is no excuse

A seven year old child is a victim of ignorance as described in this DPA article. She was expelled because she is HIV positive and thus a danger to the other children.

Phnom Penh - The foster parents of a seven-year-old Cambodian girl are considering legal action after a foreign-managed private school expelled the child for being HIV positive.

The Cambodian-owned, British-managed Footprints School in the capital, which bills itself as to international-standard and offering 'well trained, caring, professional staff,' expelled the girl within hours of becoming aware of her HIV status, the parents said.

The ignorance is appalling especially for an educational institution. How is it, in a country with so many HIV/AIDS programme, is Footprints ignorant of HIV modes of transmission?

The four major routes of transmission are unprotected sexual intercourse, contaminated needles, breast milk, and transmission from an infected mother to her baby at birth.

Which of these is the root of Footprints' fear? Which is relevent to a seven year old child?

Obviously if it's educational standards are so low, the board of directors should consider closing the school as quickly as possible. Do they still teach that the Earth is flat there too? Maybe the students learn that sun revolves around the Earth? Besides ignorance is no excuse under the law and impossible to believe.

Millions of dollars have been invested in HIV/AIDS education and the efforts are paying off as the infection rate is significantly reduced as a result. Anti-retroviral drugs are available and people are living with HIV/AIDS, not dying of because of inadequate care.

Cambodia has anti-discrimination laws and all children are entitled to an education. Footprints is breaking the law. Wonder if this will have legal repercussions?

A woman who identified herself as the director of studies at Footprints said by telephone that the school did not have an HIV/AIDS policy in place and despite the girl's unblemished three months at the school prior to the discovery, she had to leave.

'We are worried about the rest of the children,' she said, acknowledging that the child's HIV status was behind the decision.

'We are a private school, and although we would try to keep information like this confidential, there is no guarantee it would not become public,' she said.

That could result in the school losing business as panicked parents withdrew their children, she said.

Ah so the motivation is not education but losing business. Yes well yet another reason to close the school down. Children should not be learning discrimination in school. Children should not be learning myths as fact in school. Children should have HIV/AIDS age-appropriate education and not be taught to demonise their peers. The child is not a risk to other students. To expel her on those grounds would be laughable if it was in violation of her human rights.

Shame on you, Footprints School.