Stigma against children living with HIV& Aids in Ntoroko district is forcing many of them to drop out of school.
The children, who were born with the virus, have turned to the school authorities for help but nothing has been done.
In Ntoroko, stigmatization is common in secondary schools, where the sick students are either teased or avoided by fellow students.
Steven Businge, a resident of Karugutu town council says that last year, her 15 year old daughter dropped out of secondary school because her friends at school were making fun of her. He says that the students used to ask her why she was very thin and why she had rush all over her body.
Businge says that he tried to complain to the school authorities but they never helped to him. According to Businge, he has tried to convince her daughter to return to school but she has refused.
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At Karugutu Senior Secondary School in Karugutu town council, six HIV positive students dropped out of school at the beginning of last term because of being stigmatized.
Gerald Muhereza, the head teacher of the school says that they were not aware that the students were being stigmatized for being HIV positive until the parents of the children complained to the school authorities.
Muhereza says since that that incident, the school has embarked on creating awareness to students and teachers about HIV/AIDS and dangers of stigmatization.
At Karambi Modern Boarding School, three students stopped attending classes because of stigma.
Herbert Bahenduka, a senior two student says that whenever his friends saw him swallowing the drugs, they would laugh at him. Bahenduka says that he was forced to swallow the drugs while hiding, but the students still mocked him.
He also says that whenever he fell sick, his friends told him that he was faking illness to miss studies.
Joseph Kakiza, the chairperson of Ntoroko district people living with HIV/AIDS says that they have records of more than fifty children in the district, who have dropped out of school as a result of stigma.
He says that the association has tried to talk to some school heads about the matter and he hopes they will address the problem.
Kakiza wants the government to enact a law against stigmatization in schools.
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