QUEENSBURGH High School hosted a drug march on Thursday, 11 August. Pupils, staff with the support of locals and the police, were out on Dipdale Road in protest against drug abuse as well as to send a message that the school does not tolerate this social ill.
“We have had drug related problems at the school but we are now in good standing and have shifted our focus. We now say education first, no to drugs. We are passed the stage of fighting against drugs and are upholding education,” said principal, Rodney Dlamini. While the school has chosen to focus on ensuring education remains key, the principal said they still feel it necessary to have their annual drug march as their ethos behind it is to introduce the ‘fight’ at a young age to instill into its pupils.
Participation at the march was completely voluntary and deputy principal, Marthinus Myburgh, said he was pleased with the enthusiasm his pupils showed towards this initiative. “Our pupils were given two weeks to design placards and they were very excited to take this task on. They showed passion and their talents came through on the posters. I’m also happy with the way in which our pupils settled down after the march. We started the day at 6.45am and at 7.45am, we were ready to wrap up and start classes by 8am,” he said. Myburgh added that by shifting their focus to upholding education, the school reaped the reward of a 90 per cent pass rate last year.
School counsellor, Diane Powell, said that the support from the community, vigilance and patrolling was significant in guaranteeing that the values instilled inside were also carried outside the school.
