Maseru, April 01 — The Deputy Principal of Lesotho High School, Mrs. Nobekwaphini Mandaba says there are no reports of any drug abuse at the school.
When the Agency contacted her to confirm or deny media reports that at least 20 students from Lesotho High School have been dismissed after being found positive to drug abuse, Mrs. Mandaba said that was not true.
She described the media reports as mere strategy to tarnish the good name of the school.
Furthermore, she charged that it could be people who are bitter that their children were not allowed to go to Lesotho High School, so they think that the best way is to tarnish the good name of the school.
The Deputy Principal confirmed that there is an outcry in the country for drug abuse in schools but vehemently denied that there is any drug abuse case that has been reported at the school this year.
“We were shocked when we saw the reports in the media claiming that 20 students have been dismissed from the school after testing positive to drug abuse,” she lamented.
However, she confirmed that Lesotho High School is one of the schools whose students were tested for drug abuse but said as the school they were not given any results, hence denying the story of the students having been dismissed as the results.
The Deputy Principal said it was not the first time the Lesotho High School trended on the media for wrong reasons, citing that the school was also linked to bribes for children to be enrolled at the school, saying even this claims were unfounded.
One of the parents who has a child at Lesotho High School, Mrs, ‘Makananelo Thebets’oeu told the Agency that they were once called to a parents meeting where they were briefed about the initiative to test the students at the school for drug abuse.
She said it was at that meeting where they were requested to pay M50 as well as to sign consent forms as parents to allow their children to be tested for drug abuse while the Ministry of Education and Training was also expected to pay a certain amount to that effect.
Mrs. Thebet’soeu said she was concerned and shocked when she saw the reports about 20 Lesotho High School students having been expelled after being found positive to drug abuse.
She said the issue of drug abuse is so rife in the country among the youth that any parent should be worried about his or her child.
“We were told that as parents we might not notice that our children are using drugs such as ‘crystal meth’ which is highly addictive,” she commented.
Attempts to get a comment from the Ministry of Education and Training proved futile.
Lesotho High School is a government school and one of the best performing schools in the country.
