Students get drunk, take drugs in public schools in Maputo province – O País

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Students get drunk, take drugs in public schools in Maputo province – O País

3:06 CAT | 08 Jul 2022

Image: O País

More and more students are consuming alcoholic beverages and drugs in public schools in Maputo province. In the first quarter of this year, at least 174 students were detoxified and treated, against 30 in the same period last year, according to the Provincial Office for Combating Drugs.

Muhalaze Secondary School, in the district of the same name in Matola municipality, Maputo province, is fast becoming the scene of immorality and disorder that culminates in criminal acts. Students there get drunk and take drugs – a situation brought to light by the students themselves.

“Here, life is bad, everything happens – they drink, smoke and steal our things,” a Grade 8 student sitting under a mafureira tree surrounded by her classmates said. Empty drinks bottles lay scattered on the ground – of different brands, but all high in alcoholic content.

A teenager who attends the ninth grade backed up her colleague’s words, saying: “Here, people drink a lot and use a lot of drugs. There is a blue ‘barraca’ where they go shopping and drink here at school.”

The same teenager also mentioned cases of rape, which occur when they go home, and appealed for a change of uniform, so that they can wear pants instead of skirts, which, in their view, facilitate the act.

In unfinished construction works on the site, in addition to consuming drugs, there are orgies among students, as well as rapes, assaults and robberies. Residents say they have made efforts to contain the problem and the crimes carried out by underage students, but to little avail.

Muhalaze resident Sérgio Zucula, a member of the neighbourhood’s administrative structure, says that the problem is worrying and serious. “There are rapes and drug use here, both by boys and girls, who end up becoming addicted,” he says.

Concerned residents believe that the installation of a police station nearby could restore tranquillity to the school, and a safe environment for the neighbourhood.

“One solution would be the installation of a police station. Police agents could help us solve the problem,” said resident Gildo Chiluvane.

The Provincial Directorate of Education in Maputo recognises that this is a phenomenon that affects almost all public schools in the province, and says it is coordinating with other institutions to stop the damage.

“We are working in coordination with the police, but even the police authorities cannot resolve this without the community. What happens is that these students are enticed outside, consume alcoholic beverages and drugs outside and enter the school premises already intoxicated,” says José Luís, spokesman for the Provincial Directorate of Education in Maputo province.

Nine years ago, the government introduced a regulation to prevent the sale of alcoholic beverages near schools, but to this day, the problem persists.

By Amandio Borges

Source: O País