Drug education to be integrated in the curriculum

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) school providers in the city will soon implement the City Anti-Drug Abuse Council (CADAC) drug education modules.

The CADAC has initiated the enhancement of the implementation of drug education modules incorporated in the school curricula as mandated in Republic Act 9165 Article IV, Sec. 43 where instruction on drug abuse prevention and control shall be integrated in the elementary, secondary and tertiary curricula of all public and private schools.

While CADAC has learning competencies in place for formal education, particularly for Grades 1-12, they are still to create a program specific for TVET schools that may offer different courses than formal institutions.

“We need to enhance the contents of the learning strands suited for TVET programs,” CADAC program director Ronaldo Rivera said during the orientation of the utilization of the said module.

According to Rivera, the crafting of TVET drug education modules will be easier and will be implemented as soon as possible.

“But this will be easier because we have our knowledge areas in place. We hope to implement this as soon as possible so that TVET institutions can also have outputs,” Rivera said.

The topics to be included in the curricula for TVET will be the same with those for the formal education.

This include the science of addiction: physiology and pharmacology, co-occurring disorders, treatment and management, community development, and the role of the higher education institutions in the implementation of community-based rehabilitation program.

“We will have to insert it in their subject, at least two hours per learning strand,” Rivera said. (Julianne A. Suarez)