Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha, on Thursday, December 30, issued a statement on the mandatory drug test directive issued by Maranda High School to its students.
This comes after the school administration wrote to parents, alerting them that all students will need to undergo a drug test and present a certificate of the same when the institution opens on January 3, 2022.
Speaking to the press in Mombasa, Magoha welcomed the move, stating that it was high time students put under scrutiny owing to the recent spike in cases of unruly behaviour.
The CS implied that a good number of high school students have been exposed to drugs.
“A drug test is thoroughly in order because children are using drugs. Are you doubting it?” He posed.
Magoha blamed the current rise indiscipline cases among students on the absence of parents in the lives of their children and consistent pampering.
He accused parents of being passive contributors in the growth of their children. The Education boss stated that most of them replacing attention with money.
“Children do not need money, they need your time. You must allow your child to go through life,” he remarked.
Magoha declared the government would deal firmly with students who cause havoc in school, including those who set dormitories on fire, terming them criminals.
On December 27, he urged school principals to let unruly students who do not want to be in school to go home.
He argued that it was better for the few students to leave school and sit their examinations from home instead of destroying property and disadvantaging the rest.
Earlier on December 18, Magoha refused to readmit students expelled from schools. This, despite being served with court orders compelling him to allow students implicated in school fires back to school.
