Under the Right to Education (RTE), children of HIV positive patients will now get free education up to class 12 in private schools.
Children of HIV positive patients will be entitled to free education irrespective of their family’s financial condition. However, the scheme will be applicable only on the kids aged between three and seven years. They will be given admissions in nursery and class one from this academic year (2017-18). So far, 19 children in this category have been identified by the anti-retroviral therapy (ART) centre in Bareilly.
“Admissions will be given only in nursery and Class I. We have identified 19 children under this category and have registered them with our centre. We have informed the district magistrate and the Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) about them. The last date for registering students under this category is June 19,” said data manager of ART centre Manoj Verma.
“Though many HIV patients approached us for free education for their kids in private schools, their children were above seven and hence could not be registered. The selected students will have to apply on the RTE website. If the number of applications is higher than the reserved seats, BSA will take a final call on the basis of a lottery system,” added Verma.
The government has been providing free treatment, medicines and travel allowance to HIV patients on their visit to ART centres. So far, treatment of 1,385 patients has been initiated out of the 1,940 persons registered with the ART centre. The number of patients also include 90 children below 14 years.
