DEPED DRUG-FREE COMMITTEE FORMED

At present, there are at least 5,500 public elementary and secondary schools in Cebu City Drug testing for public school teachers is scheduled next week to be administered by Cosap

The Department of Education (DepEd) Cebu City has created a drug-free workplace committee that will oversee the random drug testing to be administered to public elementary and secondary school teachers in the city.

Although the Civil Service Commission recently issued a circular requiring all teachers to undergo a drug test, Councilor Joy Augustus Young said it is not practical for all public school teachers in the city to undergo the exam.

At present, there are at least 5,500 public elementary and sec- ondary schools in the city.

For his part, DepEd Cebu City Schools Division Superintendent Bianito Dagatan said his office will randomly select the school and its teachers who will undergo the drug test, which will be administered by the Cebu City Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (Cosap).

“It’s not practical that all of them will undergo the drug test. There are other teachers like those who have been teaching for how many years and are about to retire that we really know that they’re not into illegal drugs. We will just do it randomly,” Young said.

Young said that they can start the drug test anytime next week.

Cosap Chief Garry Lao said that Cosap still has available budget to fund the drug testing.

Those who will be found positive will be required to undergo a confirmatory test, or challenge the result of the exam within 15 days and submit the same urine samples to another laboratory of his or her choice, Dagatan said.

Those who will test positive in the confirmation exam will have to submit himself for rehabilitation at his/her expense. /

I don’t have a rare bone marrow disease. I don’t know where President Duterte got that notion.