Sign of progress not discrimination

GREEN HARBOR RED RIBBON SCHOOL, located in Linfen, North China's Shanxi province, is a special school for students infected with HIV. This year, 16 of the 36 students enrolled in the school will take the national college entrance examination. The local authorities have arranged a separate exam room for the 16 students. Beijing Youth Daily comments:

Many people have expressed their disagreement with the move to put the students in a separate room, saying that they should sit the exams with the other examinees. Some have even said that arranging a special exam room for them is a kind of discrimination.

Such comments are reasonable. The students infected with HIV have the right to take the exams together with other students, instead of being separated. However, the reality is that society as a whole still lacks proper understanding of the disease. If other students or their parents learn that they are taking the exams in the same venue as students infected with HIV, they might object and create a fuss.

Therefore, the move of the local authorities should be regarded as a progress rather than being discriminatory. At least the students have the chance to sit the exams as their peers do. Headmaster of the school, Guo Xiaoping, clearly knows a separate exam room for these students represents discrimination, but he is practical and he knows that it is a step in the right direction.

Society still has a lot to do to eliminate discrimination against people infected with HIV. For example, in this specific case, after the students take the exams, there remain many questions to be answered. Will the students get enrolled in colleges equally with others? Will they be given equal opportunities to select their majors? Will they stay in the same classrooms and dormitories as other students when they enter college?

Let's solve these problems one by one so that discrimination can be totally eliminated as early as possible.