‘Uphold youth’s right to education’ in mandatory drug test — CHR

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said on Thursday that youth’s education rights must be upheld after the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) approved the implementation of mandatory drug testing among higher education institutions HEIs.

“The government, alongside education institutions, should move towards reformation of users or dependents, towards upholding our youth’s right to education and their opportunity for a more productive life,” CHR said in a statement.

CHEd issued CHEd Memorandum Order No. 18 last Oct. 26 which imposed mandatory drug testing among students in all HEIs for Academic Year 2019-2020.

CHR reiterated that schools must prohibit on imposing administrative or criminal charges to students found positive for drugs and those who would refuse take drug testing.

“Strict guidelines in its implementation should be observed, including a prohibition from imposing sanctions—be it administrative or criminal—to students who are found to be users or dependents, including those who refuse to undergo the random drug testing,” the human rights body said.

Under the memorandum, CHEd also stated guidelines on confidentiality and integrity of the drug test results. /je