Nyumbani Children’s Home v. The Ministry for Education and The Attorney General

This case summary and analysis was prepared in partnership with the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Programme of the University of Toronto for Legal Grounds: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in African Commonwealth Courts.

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Summary of Facts
Analysis and Decision

Nyumbani Children’s Home (“the Applicant”) requested a declaration from the High Court requiring public schools to permit HIV-positive children to enroll in their programs. The Applicant represented 91 children who were prohibited from attending public schools because of their HIV status. Of those 91 children, 41 attended costly private schools, and the remaining 50 studied informally at home. The Applicant, in collaboration with the Chamber of Justice, claimed that the public schools’ policy unjustly discriminated against the children based on their HIV status, and that there was no justiﬁable reason for precluding these children from attending public schools. The Applicant offered scientiﬁc evidence that demonstrates that HIV-positive children can live normal and healthy lives without affecting the well-being of other children.

The issue in this case was whether prohibiting HIV-positive children from enrolling in public school programs is against the law. However, the parties privately settled the matter prior to the Court’s consideration of the case. The public schools agreed to abolish the admission policy prohibiting the enrollment of HIV-positive children. The settlement provided an important framework for establishing that public schools cannot prohibit HIV-positive children from enrolling in school programs.