CEBU, Philippines - The random drug test in public and private secondary schools in Central Visayas will resume during the opening of classes in June, according to the Department of Education.
DepEd-7 health and nutrition unit officer-in-charge Dr. Berna J. Ysulan said they temporarily stopped the drug test last March 13 due to lack of analysts who will supervise the activity.
DepEd central office in Manila has reportedly ordered the pullout of analysts from the National Research Laboratory from different regions to finish first the drug test among schools in the National Capital Region (NCR).
So far, DepEd-7 and the Department of Health have accomplished only 20.56 percent since they started the drug test on February 23. This translates to 205 schools out of the 997 schools that are being targeted in Central Visayas.
Different testing teams were assigned to each DepEd division and only the divisions of the cities of Lapu-Lapu, Bogo and Naga were able to accomplish 100 percent of schools that have undergone the drug test.
Cebu City was able to finish 62.6 percent of the total 123 secondary schools, both private and public.
The provinces of Negros Oriental, Bohol and Siquijor are not yet covered. But Ysulan said they are hopeful to cover these provinces when they resume the drug test in June.
So far, Ysulan said that there is no resistance from the students and parents due to their proper orientation.
Testing teams are also following the right procedures in randomly selecting the students, explaining them how the test is done, how they are selected and emphasizing the confidentiality of the result.
Ysulan stressed the importance of the program, saying it will determine the prevalence of illegal drug consumption among secondary students, which will be DepEd’s basis on how it could better the National Drug Education Program (NDEP).
NDEP is the integration of drug education into the different programs of each school. The result of the drug test will give school authorities ideas on what appropriate modifications they would apply to the program. — Jessica Ann R. Pareja/LPM (THE FREEMAN)