LIB DEMS' LEADER SAYS SCHOOLS SHOULD NOT AUTOMATICALLY EXPEL YOUNG USERS

CHILDREN who openly use drugs in Scottish schools should not face
automatic expulsion, the Liberal Democrats will tell headteachers today.

Jim Wallace, the party's Scottish leader, will say that the only case
for immediate exclusion is if a pupil is caught trying to sell drugs
to other youngsters.

Mr Wallace's stance comes after a series of high-profile cases of
drugs being found in schools which led to conflicting messages from
Government ministers. It will anger those who are demanding a zero
tolerance approach.

Mr Wallace is expected to sympathise with headteachers, who, he will
say, are being "squeezed" between the demand of parents and those of
politicians.

He will say: "A zero tolerance regime simply won't work - every
individual case must be studied and judged on its merits. For example,
overt drug use could be interpreted as bravado, but it could equally
be a cry for help. And it is help which is needed in all cases.

"We must redouble our effort to educate young people of the dangers of
drugs so they know what risks they take. Penalise the pushers -
exclude them certainly, deliver them for prosecution, and hope young
people get the message."

Mr Wallace will make his comments at the annual conference of the
Headteachers' Association of Scotland (HAS), the main union for
secondary school heads, in Crieff.

He is expected to call for an increase in drug awareness training for
teachers, and a clear framework for headteachers and local authorities
on how to deal with offenders.

A Scottish Office spokesman said Helen Liddell, the education
minister, had already set up a task force to address such matters. It
came after an 11-year-old boy was found in school with UKP500 worth of
heroin. In another case, a seven-year-old Stirling boy handed a
smaller amount of the drug to his teacher.

Earlier this week, Mrs Liddell indicated that habitual drug users
should be expelled from school, apparently taking a harder line than
Estelle Morris, the schools minister for England and Wales. However,
both said each case should be judged on its merits.

Tino Ferri, the Scottish executive member of the National Association
of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers, dismissed the views
expressed by the two ministers and Mr Wallace as "ridiculous".

He said: "Parents would not want to think their kids could be sharing
a classroom with a known drug user. There is no room for a softly,
softly approach. It is sensible to expel drug users. It is a criminal
activity and cannot be condoned."

At the HAS conference yesterday, Professor John MacBeath, of
Strathclyde University, defended the Government's target-setting
exercise for schools, which he helped to shape as a member of the
Scottish Office action group on standards.

Delegates criticised the use of free meals entitlement to compare
schools' socio-economic background but Prof MacBeath insisted that the
statistics, while not perfect, were the best tool available.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry