Free education for AIDS orphans

Kenya's latest education plan will provide opportunities for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS, a senior UN official said on Friday. The UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis, said Kenya's decision to abolish school fees for primary school children should be adopted across Africa. "Why should such vast numbers of children, who have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS, be denied the right to go to school and the prospect of a future?" Lewis said in a statement. He said new school enrolments had increased by 20 percent within one week after fees were eliminated, and further gains were expected. "If the experience of Kenya proves anything, it proves that those who have argued for the abolition of fees as a way of liberating the lives of millions of children, were right," Lewis added.