Call for mandatory drug abuse tests before high school and varsity enrolment

By Caleb Chikwawawa

Heal Us Zimbabwe, currently on a 434km walkathon to raise funds to fight drug abuse, has called on government to introduce mandatory tests for possible drug abuse among prospective students seeking enrolment into the country’s high schools and tertiary institutions.

The anti-drug abuse NGO says the proposed screening method would help reduce the prevalence of drug and substance abuse within learning institutions and in the country as a whole.

“Tests should also be conducted mid and end of the semester until graduation to deal with any would-be violators. So, those who would have come from High School would be tested as a precondition for securing a place in a tertiary or institution of higher learning,” said Nyati while speaking to Zimstar News.

For this to work, said the activist, there was need for the enactment of legislation that will result in legally binding outcomes.

“The proposed implementation mechanism of the concept will be to enact legislative interventions that will culminate to legally binding outcomes through a motion tabled in parliament.

“The benefits are to reduce the prevalence of drugs and substance abuse as well as addressing negative health impact as a result of addiction.

“This would be an eligibility test for securing a place at university, followed by the mid and end-of-semester tests so that institutions of learning do not become breeding grounds for drug and substance misuse and addiction.

“However, there will have to be consideration to balance issues of morality and personal student rights.”

Drug abuse among both boys and girls in schools was laid bare when private Catholic girls high school, Dominican Convent in Harare expelled eight students for partaking in illicit drugs and substances during a school trip in Nyanga in 2023.

There was wide belief this could have been a tip of the ice berg in a country with a high consumption of illicit drugs among the youth.