Police search for drugs at Evander High School
The school principal, Jaco van Wyk, said police searches must be done more often. The school is not trying to hide the problem of drug use among learners, but wants to help these learners.
UPDATE :No tests done during drug search
Ridge Times made a mistake in a story published last week regarding a drug search at Evander High School.
No learners were tested during the police’s drug search because the police cannot conduct such tests.
The school, with the support of a social worker, tests learners as part of a prevention programme that is yielding positive results in the fight against drug abuse.
Mention was made of learners who had tested positive for substances on previous occasions.
19 learners in Evander test positive for using drugs
EVANDER – Nineteen learners from Evander High School tested positive for using drugs was revealed in a police search for drugs at the school on May 3.
According to Sergeant Zukiswa Mxhotyelwa, the Evander police spokesperson, they aim to sensitise learners about the dangers of using or selling drugs to other learners.
“Together with the K9 Unit, Evander police crime prevention and other stakeholders, we also have a responsibility to educate the community, not only to arrest criminals.
“Once a person begins to use drugs, he or she may become addicted. If they do not get money to feed the addiction, they begin stealing the community’s property to sell.
“We need to prevent the crime before it happens,” said Mxhotyelwa.
The school principal, Jaco van Wyk, said many schools across the country are facing drug abuse among their learners, although some schools prefer to hide this truth. He said Evander High School does not want to hide it. They prefer to assist learners in not using drugs.
“Prevention is better than rehabilitation. We have decided to fight drug use at our school. We have introduced a programme where we test our learners for drugs.
“We have a social worker coming to our school three days a week. This yields positive results in helping our learners in the fight against drug abuse,” said Van Wyk.
He thanked the police for always going to the school when needed. Van Wyk said the police search for drugs in the school must be regular throughout the year, not just annually.
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