It’s no longer one person’s responsibility, addressing the issue of children, youths dropping out of school, and getting involved in drugs and criminal activities.

It needs to involve everyone.

This was the message from Commissioner of Police Juki Fong Chew following recent revelations of a spike in the number of children dropping out of school, living on the streets of major towns and cities and getting involved in criminal activities.

Assistant Minister for Education Iliesa Vunawalu this week revealed that according to the Substance Abuse Advisory Council (SAAC), the number of drug-related issues reported in schools in 2022 was 2932.

Yesterday, Police confirmed a case where a teacher allegedly found a 16-year-old student in possession of dried leaves believed to be marijuana.

The matter was reported at the Rakiraki Police Station after the teacher discovered the dried leaves hidden inside a highlighter.

At the Ba Provincial Council meeting in Soso Village, Yasawa, former Roko Tui Ba, Viliame Burenivalu, in a presentation, highlighted that through the years 18,000 school dropouts were recorded in the province which led to many young people ending up behind bars.

Office of the Director of Public Prosecution Rape and Sexual Offences Statistics – June 2023 revealed that 16 people were charged a total of 55 counts of sexual offences in June alone.

Acting Commissioner Fong Chew has come out strongly to say that all efforts to curb these issues is not the responsibility of Police alone.

“If we look at the current situation, the police are at the back end of all these things,” Acting Commissioner Fong Chew said.

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Story by: inoke.rabonu@fijisun.com.fj