DepEd insists on limiting drug testing to secondary, tertiary levels

The Department of Education (DepEd) on Tuesday met with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to discuss the proposal of having mandatory drug testing for all students down to the Grade Four level.

After the meeting, the DepEd released a statement in which they explained that they stood their ground on having only random drug testing, and these would be limited to secondary and tertiary level students "as mandated by the law."

“Nag-agree kami na kanya-kanya kami ng trabaho – sa amin ang preventive, sa kanila ang enforcement," Education Secretary Leonor Briones said.

"We have to respect what each of us are doing because we have the same goal, which is to fight illegal drugs,” she added.

The mandatory-testing proposal did not sit well with the DepEd since it was revealed last month by PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino.

The PDEA made the suggestion to test all students in Grade Four and up, in both public and private schools nationwide after it received reports that some teachers were selling drugs to students.

During the meeting on Tuesday, the PDEA, DDB and PNP presented the DepEd with data which they claimed would prove an increasing number of children were getting involved in prohibited substances, and their proposed plan of action over the trend.

The DepEd said all four agencies agreed to provide each other advice, share information, and meet regularly to solve the illegal drug use.

The DepEd reportedly said they would follow through on the mandate President Rodrigo Duterte had issued them, which was to "to enhance the curriculum on drug education for learners nine years old and above."

The important thing, Briones said, was "all of us realize that the drug problem is not only a police problem, or an education problem, it’s a problem of society." — Margaret Claire Layug/DVM, GMA News