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In response to media enquiries regarding the views by Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (PTU) on the "Trial Scheme on School Drug Testing" (trial scheme), a Government spokesman responded as follows:
"The Government welcomes the PTU's view that we should try our best to identify students with drug problems and to offer them appropriate assistance.
"The Government is making an all out effort to combat the problem of youth drug abuse. The trial scheme is one of the methods to help students stay away from drugs and to raise their anti-drug awareness. The Education Bureau and the Narcotics Division have been actively consulting various stakeholders, including school councils, school sponsoring bodies, associations of principals in various districts, parents, teachers, social workers and students on the draft outline of the scheme. We will remain open to views from different sectors in the community over the implementation details of the scheme.
"When details of the trial scheme are finalised, we will again fully brief teachers, students and parents in the 23 secondary schools in Tai Po District.
"We are confident that there will be sufficient time for consultation and refining the trial scheme before implementation. We will review the scheme upon its completion and consolidate the experience as a reference for wider implementation of drug testing in schools."
Ends/Thursday, August 13, 2009
Issued at HKT 21:57
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