Controversy over HIV students’ exam rooms
Print Edition
A SCHOOL for HIV students has caused controversy by arranging for 16 of its students to take the gaokao in separate classrooms from non-HIV students.
The 16 students —11 boys and five girls — will sit China’s college entrance exam this week in two rooms at Linfen Red Ribbon School in north China’s Shanxi Province, the country’s only school for HIV children.
The students, aged 17 to 21, are the first group of high school graduates from the school, opened by Linfen Third People’s Hospital for medical staff to teach four HIV children.
The gaokao is of vital importance to Chinese students, with millions of candidates participating every year.
“We just made the place where they study and live as the exam site,” said Guo Xiaoping, principal of the school and former president of Linfen Third People’s Hospital.
He said the decision to set separate exam rooms was out of care for the children, who were infected with HIV from their mothers.
“The school is a half-hour ride from the general exam site. It is not convenient to take them to go to another place for the exam,” Guo said. “If the children take the exams with other candidates, I fear they may feel nervous and others will protest.”
However, after many years working against AIDS discrimination, the school underestimated growing acceptance of people with HIV. “Separate exam rooms objectively create a discriminatory atmosphere,” Wang Linghang, a doctor with Beijing Ditan Hospital, told Beijing News. “Obviously, there is no transmission risk when HIV students take the exams together with other candidates.”
Bai Hua, leader of a Beijing-based AIDS organization, said: “The personal privacy of HIV people should be protected. If these children do not take the exams in separate rooms, who will know they are HIV carriers?” said Bai Hua, leader of a Beijing-based AIDS organization. “The exam rooms are distributed randomly to candidates. Other students will not know they are HIV carriers.”
However, some supported the move.
“Separate sites can remove the worry of others and provide free space for people with HIV infection. This is not discrimination,” was a comment on social networking site Weibo. “The social reality is that many people are afraid of contracting AIDS and that cannot be changed currently.”
Another online comment stated: “It is not a matter of discrimination, but the kids’ safety. We could not rule out any possibility of infection, such as the virus passing through blood in wounds.”
Xiong Bingqi, of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said separate exam rooms were meant to provide a good environment, and it was important students were given equal education rights. “There is still a long way to go to completely eradicate discrimination against people living with AIDS/HIV,” he said.
In China, about 654,000 people live with HIV/AIDS.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
