Pubdate: Thu, 10 Dec 1998
Source: Hobart Mercurcy (Australia)
Author: Eve Lamb

CASH WOE CUTS DRUGS BATTLE

State primary schools lose prevention program service

A DRUG prevention program for Tasmanian primary schools will end this month
because of funding difficulties.

State director of the Life Education program Bob Blacklow said failures of
present and previous governments to adequately fund the program was to
blame for the loss of the service.

Mr Blacklow said the 12-year-old service was the only drug prevention
program specifically for primary schools in Tasmania.

He said it would end on December 31, making Tasmania the only state without
such a program.

The Life Education centre had received $100,000 annually for the past four
years to deliver the program, Mr Blacklow said.

But he said amount was insufficient and a $60,000 deficit had been incurred
as a result.

"Some of the larger schools do have their own drug education officers but
most schools don't, so in most cases our program has formed the basis of
their health and drug education programs," Mr Blacklow said.

"It's been a huge asset to the Education Department because if they were to
instigate their own programs it would cost many more hundreds of thousands
of dollars."

He said it was crucial that primary school students were educated about
drugs before they reached high school.

"One hundred thousand dollars annually is nowhere near enough," Mr Blacklow
said.

"It doesn't even cover the true costs of our three educators.

"Over the past three years I have explained this to the previous and
present governments but our requests for more funding have been ignored."

Education Minister Paula Wriedt said the closure of the Life Education
program was disappointing.

"I think there is acknowledgment that it has been well received in schools,
so it is a shame it is not able to continue," she said.

"But when someone is constantly over-running their budget we can't continue
to top it up. In May they were provided with an additional $20,000, because
they had overspent their budget, on the condition that they undertake a
review of their ... costs and not seek additional funding.

"It doesn't appear that they have taken it [a review]."

She said drug education would continue to be delivered in primary schools
by the Department's drug education officers.

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Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson