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Schools warned on AIDS orphan enrolment

    JOHANNESBURG
    Kenya's ministry of health has issued a warning to heads of schools who deny enrolment to HIV-positive children. The assistant minister of health, Gideon Konchella, on Thursday said free primary education was open to all children and warned that tough measures would be taken against principals who disobeyed the directive. The government announced a free primary education policy earlier this year to provide for children living with, and orphaned by, HIV/AIDS. Local newspaper The Nation quoted Konchella as saying: "I am aware that it has been difficult to enrol these children in schools due to a form of subtle discrimination... This is unacceptable and infringes on the rights of children as espoused in the Children's Act." It is estimated that some 60,000 Kenyan children below the age of five become infected with HIV/AIDS each year.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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