In a significant step, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered State governments to consider issuing a notification under the Right to Education law, declaring children living with/affected by HIV as a ‘disadvantaged group’ deserving additional rights to help them gain free and compulsory education, a fundamental right under the Constitution.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar and D.Y. Chandrachud gave States four weeks to issue the notification under Section 2 (d) of The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009, which mandates the State governments concerned to issue a notification that a child belongs to a disadvantaged group based on reasons ranging from caste, social, cultural, linguistic, geographical, gender, etc. The Act makes education compulsory for children between six and 14 years of age.
The Bench ordered that those States which are “unwilling” to issue a notification under Section 2 (d) should file an affidavit “explaining why they consider it unnecessary” to inform that children living with HIV do not belong to a disadvantaged group. The court however noted that at least 11 States have already issued the notification.
The order was based on a petition filed by NGO Naz Foundation (India) Trust, represented by senior advocate Anand Grover, which pointed out that HIV-hit children face denial of admission, outright expulsion, segregation, breach of confidentiality to being given chores like cleaning toilets. According to NACO estimates in 2012-2013, around 20.9 lakh people were living with HIV in 2011. Children less than 15 years of age account for seven percent (1.45 lakh) of all infections.
“India has a substantial number of HIV-positive children who are of school-going age and need to be in school. Schools can play a crucial role in improving the prospects of children affected with HIV. A good school education can give children higher self-esteem, better job prospects and economic independence and create opportunities for lifting children out of poverty,” the NGO argued.
In schools, instead of kindness from the authorities, these children face ridicule, the NGO said.
“They are publicly ridiculed by school authorities, humiliated and treated unfairly in schools, to the extent that they have been segregated from other children in schools and have been made to clean toilets and classrooms,” the petition said.
