Teachers have now termed the mandatory drug testing of high school students before re-admission for the ongoing third term as unfair.
Speaking to the press on Wednesday, January 5, Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) chairperson Omboko Milemba termed the move extremely intrusive.
He argued that the students must be given a chance to defend themselves before the tests are carried out on them.
He further noted that issuing a blanket directive to the learners without giving them a chance presumes that they are abusers of the drugs.
"It vilifies the student as a suspect who is taking drugs and without giving him a chance to defend themselves.
"Who will speak for the students given that the testing is mandatory and they are undergoing it as a forceful measure," he told KTN News.
Other teachers argued that issuing the mandatory directive without consulting parents was unfair for both the learners and their caregivers.
The teachers also reckon that the directive will be thrown out by the courts similar to a 2016 order on tracking students living with HIV in schools.
The directive was thrown out by the court which found it null and void.
"They will challenge the institution that 'my test is clean. I have a clean bill. Why are you subjecting me to any kind of punishment because I underwent through that test?'" stated Milemba.
The uproar comes after Maranda High School, alongside other institutions, subjected its students to a mandatory drug test before reporting to school.
The decision was reached at following a meeting by the school's board of management on December 23, which resolved that students undergo tests in a public facility or at the National Authority for the Campaign Against Drugs and Alcohol abuse (NACADA).
Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha then welcomed the move, stating that it was high time students were put under scrutiny owing to the recent spike in cases of unrest.
The CS implied that a good number of high school students have been exposed to drugs.
"A drug test is thoroughly in order because children are using drugs. Are you doubting it?" He posed.
