STATE SCHOOLS USING RANDOM DRUG TESTS

STATE schools are starting to use drug tests for pupils, according to a
senior Government adviser.

The move, which has been condemned by head teachers, marks a profound shift
in school drugs policies.

Head teacher Peter Walker, a member of the Home Office advisory council for
misuse of drugs, said he knew of a "handful" of state schools that used
tests. One had decided to introduce random testing.

Increasing numbers of independent schools, including Eton, St Paul's, Rugby
and Harrow, already test pupils they suspect may have been taking drugs,
but state schools have shied away from the idea until now.

Mr Walker, who helped draw up nationwide recommendations on drugs issued by
the National Association of Head Teachers last year, said he knew of around
five state schools that had introduced testing, although he declined to
identify them.

He said: "There are a small number of state schools that are involved in
drug testing. I know of a very small number which involve themselves in
random drug testing.

"Personally, I would not go anywhere near it. I have never even considered
it."

He warned that testing would have profound implications for schools'
standing in the community and with their pupils. He said: "I would ask
schools to think extremely carefully . We have to ask if we are putting the
right messages out."

Drugs are already widespread in schools, with half of all children thought
to have experimented with drugs by the age of 15. Local authority leaders
warn that some schools have problems with hard drugs such as cocaine and
heroin. Primary schools have also reported drug use among pupils.

Head teachers, however, expressed deep concerns about testing. Chris
Thatcher, Vice President of the National Association of Head Teachers,
said: ''We would all like to wave a magic wand and remove drug problems,
but this is a knee-jerk reaction. Schools that carried out random drug
tests could appear heavy-handed and authoritarian.''

The NASUWT, a teachers' union, rejects testing, but supports tough action
on drugs. General secretary Nigel de Gruchy said: "We would support any
school management team which took a hard line on drugs. Schools are
expected to uphold the law and we would be concerned if a school management
team took a soft line on drugs."

Government advice to schools does not tackle the question of drug testing.
Governors must decide their own individual policies for dealing with the
problem.

Schools are expected to call in the police, but heads are warned only to
consider expulsion as "a final sanction when all other reasonable steps
have been taken".

Drug testing is already widespread in independent schools, where there have
been a series of high-profile drugs-related expulsions in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, Eton threw out two boys, and St Paul's school in
Barnes, west London, expelled three teenage boys. Both schools are among
the growing number in the independent sector to have accepted drug testing.

St Paul's High Master, Stephen Baldock, said his school's policy was clear:
using cannabis was illegal and anyone found with drugs on the premises
would be expelled.

Mr Baldock said: "If a boy is in possession of cannabis on the school
premises he has broken the law of the school. We have agreement that we
could use drug testing if there were good reasons for it, but we do not do
random testing; we would say it was a positive support for a boy who has
given assurances that he was not involved in drugs."

Vivian Anthony, secretary of the Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference,
which represents public school heads, said many schools had adopted drug
testing to back up the "two strikes and you're out" rule, which was
increasingly replacing automatic expulsion for school drug users.