Twenty-nine students, studying between class III and class VIII, were asked to leave school. Not because of bad behaviour, poor attendance or having failed a class but because they were infected with HIV. This is what happened in a government school in Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu, where the headmaster barred these children from attending regular classes because of the fear that the other students might get affected.

Even after continuous advertising and campaigning that the HIV virus does not spread by talking, touching, using the same toilet or sitting in the same room as the infected the local panchayat of the village and parents of the other students in the school did not want these children to attend school.

An NGO filed a petition in the Madras high court on behalf of the HIV-infected children. The court issued an order that the students should be taken back in school. But while the students were brought back, they were made to study in a separate class.

This happened despite the Right to Education (RTE) Act which promises free and compulsory education to all children between the age of six and 14 years. 

On the first anniversary of the RTE, Kapil Sibal, the union minister for human resources development had proudly announced that only 21 percent of teachers need professional training in government schools in India.

The teachers of this school surely belong to this group.

Now that J Jayalalithaa has assumed charge as chief minister, she needs to ensure that not only is the RTE is implemented in its true spirit but also that people in the state are better educated about HIV. 

And while this is just one example from one school, it does reflect the widespread societal ignorance and prejudice.