REPORT: DRUGS A MAJOR PROBLEM IN SCHOOLS

Research by Prof Ramesh Deosaran which was commissioned by the Ministry of
Education provides clear evidence that illicit drugs are a major problem in
secondary schools, particularly in the so-called prestige schools.

Four days after Education Minister Hazel Manning stated that violence in
schools was linked to drugs, the ministry said yesterday that a 336-page
report by Deosaran on "Violence and delinquency in the secondary school:
Towards a culture of peace and civility "contains the results of a survey
conducted on a sample of secondary schools throughout Trinidad, with the
overall objective to study the apparent increase in violence and disruptive
behaviour in secondary schools".

The result of this survey, the Ministry said, is giving direction to the
continued implementation of Project Peace which is the Ministry's
initiative to address incidents of violence and indiscipline in schools."

The Ministry of Education is embarking on an action plan to combat the
illicit activities currently wreaking havoc in the nation's schools, "to
help students avoid the pitfalls that lie in their paths at Carnival time",
is conducting a series of special workshops to prepare secondary school
students for Carnival.

One set of workshops in the Pre-Carnival Programme is called "Carnival
Choices" and the other "Ready for Carnival".

These workshops take the students through an interactive process during
which they are made to see for themselves the risk and danger of taking
certain decisions and engaging in certain types of behaviour. The
interactive workshops provide students an opportunity, through role playing
to "Say No" to the temptation of illicit drugs and sex and to avoid
fighting or resorting to violence in any dispute.