First-ever Drugs and Social Issues Taskforce meeting focuses on protecting children from drugs

The first-ever Drugs and Social Issues Taskforce meeting, specifically targeting drugs and other related social problems in our schools, was held at the Grand Pacific Hotel.

The Permanent Secretary for Education, Selina Kuruleca, while addressing stakeholders, highlighted the need to protect our children and educate them on making good decisions.

Kuruleca says children are the future leaders of our beloved nation, and the discussion during this meeting will focus on better coordination that must go back to the basic unit of any community, which is the family.

She says they often ask the question as to why children take drugs, and there are various reasons.

The Permanent Secretary adds that some are due to peer pressure, while some are out of curiosity, and some children tend to experiment using drugs.

She adds others use drugs as a coping technique to mask the emotional pain, while some follow their role model in the communities.

Kuruleca says these reasons can be a platform for them to analyse and diagnose the root cause and discuss possible strategies to address the drug use problem.

She emphasised that we need to protect our children from this drug scourge and related health and social issues.

The Permanent Secretary also expressed her sincere appreciation to UNICEF Fiji for its support and partnership towards sponsoring the one-day workshop.

The drugs and social issues taskforce stakeholders' consultation meeting by the Ministry of Education is in line with Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka's comments at Albert Park, whereby the Prime Minister revealed evidence of drug use at the Hibiscus Festival.

Rabuka stressed that there is a need for communities to come together to fight against the issue of drugs, and this will involve parents, students, religious organisations, and other stakeholders.

The meeting was attended by representatives of all the major faith-based organisations, from the Methodists, SDA, Arya Samaj, Muslims, and Catholics to the Hare Krishna denomination, among others.