ISLAMABAD: Two bills that call for the mandatory drug testing of school and university students in the capital were approved by the National Assembly Standing Committee on Thursday.

The private member’s bills, titled the ‘Prevention of Drugs in Educational Institutions Act 2018’ and the ‘Compulsory Drug Test of Students Act 2018’, were tabled by MNAs Shahida Rehmani and Asiya Naz Tanoli respectively.

The standing committee considered both bills before deciding to pass them, and sent them to the National Assembly for final discussion and voting.

The bills aim to discourage drug use among students and strengthen the role of universities in preventing drug use.

They suggest annual unannounced drug testing by educational institutions, as well as protecting the identities of detected drug users to limit stigmatisation and facilitating their access to rehabilitation centres.

The bills were tabled in the National Assembly in the first week of March and were opposed by Minister for Education Balighur Rehman, who said they were not feasible.

They were tabled again on March 13, and sent to standing committees to be considered.

Ms Rehmani’s bill says the financial costs of the tests should be borne by the educational institutes and should be a part of their annual budgets. Students who fail to show up for the test should, after being provided sufficient chances to reappear, not be allowed to sit their final examinations. Institutions that fail to conduct the tests would be fined up to Rs500,000.

On March 5, the Senate Standing Committee on Interior, chaired by Senator Rehman Malik, asked the government to conduct annual blood tests of teenage and adult students in the capital to find drug users.

The recommendation came after a briefing from the Islamabad police claimed that students were taking addictive tablets, heroin and opium.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2018