Outrage at Guangdong plan to ban teachers with HIV and STDs

A draft regulation unveiled by Guangdong education authorities that would ban HIV carriers and people with sexually transmitted diseases from applying for jobs as teachers has triggered a huge outcry from the mainland's anti-discrimination NGOs.

The draft, released by the province's education department on Sunday for public consultation, said individuals infected with HIV, gonorrhoea, syphilis, genital warts or any of three other sexually transmitted diseases would be screened out through physical examinations during the recruitment process.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis would also be banned from working as teachers, according to the department's website.

HIV carriers have brought at least four anti-discrimination lawsuits against the education authorities in the provinces of Anhui, Guizhou, Jiangxi and Sichuan after they were disqualified from working as teachers because of the disease.

The plaintiffs have lost two of the cases, another was rejected by the courts and the fourth is going through mediation.

Meanwhile, previous discriminatory clauses in the draft banning candidates with high blood pressure, serious shortsightedness, disabilities and facial paralysis from becoming teachers were deleted, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.