P25M, 4 years needed for random drug test on RP schools

MANILA, Philippines - The government needs P25 million for the nationwide random drug testing in schools scheduled to start next month, a Department of Education official said Tuesday. Thelma Santos, DepEd assistant secretary for special projects, said in a radio interview Tuesday that aside from that amount, it would also take the government more than three and a half years to complete the testing of students from 8,000 private and public schools nationwide. For February’s scheduled random drug test, the government plans to expand it by covering around 8,000 schools. It plans to pick 30 students from each school, which could translate into 250,000 students randomly tested for drug use. Santos however said that the testing would not be conducted simultaneously but rather in a longer span of time. “Kung 30 students per school, we will be testing around 250,000 and kailangan maglagay ng resources doon ang Department of Health [Resources would be needed if we are to test 250,000 students],” she said. “We are looking at testing those 250,000. It would take us around 45 months [or 3.75 years] before we can complete it, depending on the number of personnel that would be deployed,” Santos said. Aside from spending P25 million and an almost four-year waiting period, the results of the random drug test would still be limited only to the detection of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) and marijuana. Santos said that the government could only so far detect those two illegal drug substances, adding that a much bigger funding is needed for the detection of other drugs like cocaine, barbiturates, and Ecstasy. Two stages The random drug testing comes in two stages: an initial drug test and a second “confirmatory” test. During the first stage, the government would spend P25 to P30 for each student in examining their urine samples. Those students who would test positive for illegal drugs would move on toward the “confirmatory” stage, wherein their urine samples would be brought to Manila pending further testing. Santos said that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City both have the machine required to the test the urine samples for the second stage. For the confirmatory testing, the government would spend P100 for each student to buy him or her drug testing kit. Each kit would come complete with chemical solutions, specimen bottles, medical adhesive tapes and other materials needed throughout the drug testing. Nothing new Santos said it was not the first time that the government would be conducting a random drug testing among students. In 2005, the DepEd had already tried out the drug testing although on a smaller number of students. “Four years ago, we subjected under drug testing 30 students in each of the 17 schools in different regions,” Santos said. Education Secretary Jesli Lapus signed the new random drug testing proposal Friday last week. The first installment of the testing would be conducted in February and a second batch of testing would be done at the opening of classes in June. Santos said that the Dangerous Drugs Board - in coordination with the DepEd, the Commission on Higher Education, the Technical and Vocational Skills Development Authority – has yet to come up with a new implementing rules and regulations regarding the test. The new guidelines would be patterned to that used in the 2005 random drug testing. Prevalence Although the new random drug testing would only subject a small four percent of the country’s six to seven million secondary and tertiary students, Santos said the new measure could at least show where the illegal drugs are prevalent. “Nakikita natin ang prevalence sa region so magkakaroon tayo ng intervention doon. We can intensify ang national drug education program and our counseling… Makakakuha na po tayo ng prevalence rate nationwide,” she said. [“We would be able to see the prevalence of illegal drugs in certain regions. Through that, we can conduct intervention programs and intensify anti-drug education and counseling. We would be able to establish a nationwide prevalence rate.”] Santos assured that the permission of the parents of students who would be randomly chosen would be sought first. She also assured the randomness of the selection process, saying that an “electronic formula” prepared by the DepEd would be used in choosing subjects with the aid of computers. - GMANews.TV