DepEd secretary welcomes proposed drug test on teachers
The Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) welcomes the proposal that teachers undergo drug testing saying teachers should not be into drugs being second parents of students.
“We are parents to students. So the last thing you would want is to have a teacher who uses drugs or worse, a drug pusher. We will prosecute but we have to do it carefully,” DepEd Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro said.
Luistro was in Cebu for the turnover ceremony of a province-owned lot to DepEd Cebu at the Casino Español.
Meanwhile, Dr. Juliet Jeruta, DepEd-7 director, said she already issued a memorandum to all school division superintendents in Cebu province with the caveat that it is up to the teacher to submit himself to a surprise drug test.
She stressed that random drug testing is voluntary and in cases wherein a teacher will not submit himself to a drug test, will not be penalized.
Late last month, the OIC principal of Santicon Elementary School, Reynante Aliñabon was arrested in a drug bust in barangay Poblacion, Badian town, south Cebu.
Joey Herrera, Executive Director of the Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Commission (CPADAC), said allowing teachers to be excused from the drug test defeats the purpose of having the mandatory drug-testing.
Herrera reminded DepEd-7 that it is a government agency and public schools are funded by the government. This gives the government the right to conduct mandatory drug tests on teachers and penalize those who refuse after due process. /WITH UP CEBU INTERN JULI ANN M. SIBI
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