Meca: Drug testing for teachers first

CEBU, Philippines – Cebu Provincial Anti-Drugs Abuse Office (CPADAO) Chief Carmen Remedios "Ivy"  Durano-Meca wants teachers to undergo random drug testing first before it is conducted to students.

The Department of Education is set to subject high school students to drug testing next month.

“Of course mas mo-prefer gyud ko nga unahon nato og drug test ang mga teachers ug non-teaching staff sa mga schools prior to conducting random drug testing to students,” she said, adding that she would coordinate with the Cebu Provincial Schools Division about the matter.

DepEd Cebu Province has agreed to implement the administration’s "drug-free workspace policy" and has identified an assessment committee based on Dangerous Drugs Board guidelines.

CPADAO already gave the guidelines to DepEd, which will be the one to choose as to which school in Cebu will have the drug testing.

Meca assured that the guidelines include strict observance of the test results being confidential, as agreed also by DepEd, so that students and teachers who test positive would not be put to shame.

The parents of the students or the families of the teachers would be the only people who would know the results of the drug testing.

If high school students will be found positive, Meca said, they and their parents would be to referred to a Department of Health-accredited facility.

And upon recommendation by CPADAO and DepEd, the students would also be subjected to iterventions and counseling by the Department of Social Welfare and Development. —/RHM (FREEMAN)