Police have not received an official report regarding a case about a female student allegedly found with drugs believed to be methamphetamine in a high school in Suva while the Education Minister, Rosy Akbar says they definitely don’t want school heads to sweep these issues under the carpet.
Police Spokesperson Ana Naisoro says they have checked with their team at the Totogo Police Station and they said there is no report however they will look into whether or not there was information brought in, whether it was taken down or whether there was laxity on their part.
She says they will continue to look into that because they take all information seriously when it comes to drugs.
Naisoro says the Commissioner of Police Sitiveni Qiliho had earlier issued a directive to Divisional Police Commanders during one of their Skype meetings and he said that community policing officers should go out and tell the school heads and respective management that if they have information then they should pass it on.
She says if not they will investigate school heads for keeping information to themselves because at the end of the day, they want to help these children and understand why they would want to be involved in drugs.
Naisoro adds maybe these students are being used as pushers or maybe there’s another layer as to why they are involved in this trade and that’s why they are reaching out.
She says they have also had similar discussions with the Education Ministry.
When asked about the case, the Education Minister says they don’t deny that drugs have reached schools.
Akbar says some reports come in and how they tackle that is another situation and challenge for them.
When asked if the school is solving matters internally, Akbar says she is not aware of that and could definitely find out and give an update.
Akbar further says they have a Student Code of Conduct Policy that clearly states any breaches by the student results in actions taken by the school.
She says in terms of drug-related offences, school heads are urged and mandated to report it because its a criminal offence and these incidents will be reported to Police for further investigation.
Akbar says they will let Police do their job. She says school heads need to be more vigilant because times are changing and they definitely don’t want school heads to sweep these issues under the carpet. Akbar says they have to bring it to the attention and Ministry and of course report it straight to Police.
1,634 cases of drugs and substance abuse in schools were recorded by the National Substance Abuse and Advisory Council last year.
There were 417 cases recorded in primary schools while 1,217 cases were recorded in secondary schools.
The National Substance Abuse and Advisory Council says the most number of cases were from schools in Suva which was 434 cases.
Source - fijivillage
