Two HIV infected children's desire to attend school has divided Kottiyoor, a small town in Kerala.

On Thursday, a group of parents staged a demonstration to oppose the move to enroll eight-year-old Akshara and her brother, six-year-old Ananthu, at the S N Lower Primary School.

Kottiyoor panchayat president K J Joseph later met the angry parents to discuss the matter. Joseph was expected to brief Deputy Director of Education K Ravindran later in the day.

When Akshara and Ananthu, students of second and first standard respectively, arrived at the school on Wednesday, armed with a government directive to admit them, they had faced stiff resistance from the parents of other children.

The brother-sister duo had drawn wide media attention when they staged a protest before the secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram demanding they be allowed to attend a school in their home town.

Chief Minister A K Antony had then directed the concerned authorities to admit the two to the S N Lower Primary School.

He also granted Rs 25,000 to the children for medical expenses.