We have to first get verification on photos of students smoking marijuana - Kuruleca

Permanent Secretary of Education, Selina Kuruleca says they have to wait for the schools to give their reports regarding some photos circulating on social media of students smoking cigarettes and marijuana.

Kuruleca says some of those photos might be old, and they have to verify first before they can do anything.

She says all this comes to the school and then it comes to the office of the Permanent Secretary, but before that, they must get in touch with the parents to get their consent.

The Permanent Secretary says a case in point are some photos that were circulating on social media of children crossing flooded waters, where one was recent while the other was at least 3 years old.

She says all schools have Standard Operating Procedures so they are well aware of what they need to do.

Kuruleca says they continue to work with their Substance Abuse Advisory Council as well as the Police and Social Welfare on addressing these issues.

She says there are processes within the law that must take its course while under 18’s there are provisions they can work with because they want to give their students a chance. The Permanent Secretary says some of these children behave in this manner because of peer pressure or wanting to be cool.