Durban — Concerned parents of a Merebank school, in the south of Durban, have called on the Department of Education to intervene and investigate allegations of drug abuse inside the school following the hospitalisation of a girl pupil due to a suspected drug overdose.
The family of the pupil told the Daily News on Tuesday that they were called by the school after the pupil fell ill, saying the school said it suspected the child was hungry.
The father said he rushed to the school and took the child to Wentworth Hospital where doctors discovered that the pupil had overdosed on drugs.
The upset father said he was hoping the school would act after finding out the real reason for the child’s sudden illness was a drug overdose but the school had not done anything about it.
The father said the child was back at school but he was concerned that she would take drugs again since there was no action to address the substance abuse by the school.
The pupil, parents and the school cannot be named to protect the child.
A senior School Governing Body (SGB) member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said parents were angered by the school management’s decision to sweep the matter under the carpet, not wanting to report it either to the department or police.
The SGB member said the school did not inform the school body about the matter.
“We need an intervention by the department because we do not understand where the child got drugs and how drugs ended up in the school.
“We suspect that the school management might be aware of the presence of drugs inside the school, which is why we are calling on the department to intervene and conduct raids with the police,” said the member.
The school management was not co-operating with the governing body and had told them not to involve themselves in school matters, saying the school would handle all the issues itself, he said.
The school management even refused parents’ request to ask Durban metro police to raid, saying that would disrupt teaching and learning, he added.
Parents said it was not only drugs that were the problem, crime, such as breaking into schools and vandalism, was also affecting local schools.
Parents suspected there were teachers who were working with drug lords who were supplying pupils with drugs, adding that they had been informed that 10 drug pills were being sold for R5.
Weighing in on the matter, the Merewest Community Foundation expressed its disappointment at the allegations that the school was undermining the school governing body.
Foundation chairperson Premilla Deonath urged the department to visit Merebank schools unannounced, together with the police.
“Substance use is a big problem in our schools here in Merebank, so as the foundation we urge the department and police to conduct random raids at these schools. We have been informed that drugs are being sold inside schools,” said Deonath.
Merebank schools have been beset by substance abuse problems. A few years ago the department had to intervene after allegations that pupils were smoking dagga in full view of other pupils on the school premises.
KwaZulu-Natal Education spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi had not responded to questions at the time of publishing.
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Daily News