Director School Education Kashmir, Dr G N Itoo, today said that fight against drug abuse should start from schools itself. He said that youth are the future of any nation or society and such efforts should be made to protect them from this malaise.The Director was speaking at a meeting convened to discuss recommendations and suggestions to combat drug menace in and around educational institutions of the Valley.Joint Directors of School Education, In-charge Drug De-addiction Centre of Police Department, senior officers from Social Welfare, Director Health Services, Police officials, Principals of different private and government schools besides civil society members were also present in the meeting. Speaking on the occasion, the Director School Education called drug menace a greatest threat to the mankind and said that Department of Education is a predominant stakeholder when it comes to addressing social evils like drug abuse.He emphasized that drug menace has reached to an alarming stage and collective efforts are needed to address it. He remarked that an action plan has been prepared to curb the menace of drug abuse in schools and the same has got an approved from the Divisional Commissioner’s office.
The Director School Education also asked school principals to share a common platform in order to fight and carry forward the mission of eradication of drug abuse - which is attacking the young generation.Senior Journalist Shujaat Bhukari said that drug menace is eating into vitals of our society and there is a dire need to eradicate it. He also said that Education Department has a very important role to play in this for they are directly involved with the students –which is the most vulnerable class.Omar Trumboo, a Civil Society representative stated that education institutes can form a game plan in order to reach out to the students who are falling prey to drug addiction at a young age. He also made some important recommendations to combat this issue. In-charge Drug De-addiction Centre, Dr Muzaffar, maintained that parents should come out of the denial mode incase of any substance abuse by their ward and keep a check on their wards and come forward to seek help for the success of the drug de-addiction efforts.