Kollam: Two children, aged five and seven, who were being denied the right to pursue education as their parents had died of AIDS, have literally fought their way to school at Kummanalloor in Kerala's cashew rich Kollam district.

At an age when they should be frolicking around, the children had to fight odds to see themselves admitted to a school. School after school had turned them away as their parents had died of the dreaded disease, says Lala N C Jacob, project officer of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) aided Partnerships for Sexual Health (PSH) project at Punaloor under the Kerala State AIDS Control.

While their father died in December 1997, their mother passed away in September 2000, leaving the children orphaned. The children are now with their aged grand parents at Kummanalloor and would start going to school from February 17, Jacob said.

On February 13, the children had staged a day-long fast in front of the gates of the state secretariat at Thiruvananthapuram, hoping some hearts would melt at their plight.

PTI