San Salvador: Schools in El Salvador are hiding the identities of HIV-affected children in an effort to "protect" them from discrimination.

Many HIV-affected children are now living in shelters across the country and attend schools in faraway towns to avoid dealing with local people who are aware of their situation.

Parents and teachers of local schools still fear letting their children or their students come in contact with kids infected with HIV, Vilma Mendoza, director of Jardin de Amor shelter in Zacatecoluca town, 56 km from the capital city of San Salvador, said.

Jardin de Amor has 21 children with HIV, including two babies and a pregnant teenager.

No one has rejected the children up to now, nor has anyone tried to stop the school from registering them, he said.

To "avoid problems," only the administration knows about their medical condition, he said.

The registration process at schools has also been special, because the administration must be informed about HIV/AIDS and what to do in case of accidents, such as a child getting cut.

The United Nations (UN) recently launched a programme in schools that seeks to inform teachers about AIDS and train them to accept and respect people with HIV.

"With training, we want students to understand that a person with AIDS is someone with courage," Patricia Soriano, a teacher at the Humberto Romero Alvergue school, said.

With such activities, the authorities hope to avoid any repetition of cases like that of Tonita, a pregnant 16-year-old girl with HIV who stays at Jardin de Amor, and who had no chance of attending a school.

Around one percent of the population in El Salvador is HIV positive, but the exact number of infected children has never been determined. IANS