Drug-test results will not affect grade for conduct, official says

Pupils' drug-test results would not affect conduct grades on their report cards, as all information was confidential under the voluntary drug-testing scheme, an education official said yesterday.

A parent, named only as Mr Chan, whose daughter is 16, said he was worried that pupils' conduct grading might be affected if they tested positive under the scheme. He was talking to education undersecretary Kenneth Chen Wei-on on a phone-in programme.

'Since only principals and class teachers are informed about the test results and they must keep the results confidential, then what should the class teachers do when they have to grade the concerned student's conduct?' Chan asked. 'What if the student has always been a good student with excellent academic results and used to get good grades for conduct? Will the class teacher put down C or D for conduct after knowing drug-test results? Is there a guideline for teachers?'

Chen said that what schools cared most about was how to help a pupil quit the drug habit.

If a pupil with a good academic performance was experiencing drug problems, the pupil could have some other problems and be seeking an escape from them, Chen said.

'The most important thing is how to help the student ... we are not aiming to expel students with drug problems or hand in information to the police. We will not disclose test-result information - not even in report cards,' he said.