DRUG TEST PLAN IN DISARRAY

Tony Blair's new war on drugs in schools today ran into a series of problems.

The Prime Minister yesterday said head teachers would be given powers to
demand urine tests from pupils or bring sniffer dogs into class.

But today critics lined up to say the plan was unworkable and pointed to
apparent contradictions in guidelines from the Department for Education and
Skills.

Official DES advice to headteachers warns: "Schools considering sniffer dog
searches without the authority of a police warrant should exercise extreme
caution before doing so."

It adds that they should think carefully about whether dog searches or
other drugs tests are:

Consistent with their pastoral responsibility.

"Culturally insensitive".

Likely to lead to labelling and be damaging to pupils concerned.

Aimed at bringing appropriate support for pupils.

Feasible and an effective use of school resources.

The guidance stresses that before heads use random testing, they should
ensure that parents give written consent.

It warns that heads planning to use sniffer dogs "solely as a deterrent,
where there are no reasonable grounds for suspicion and where prior consent
has not been sought, will need to consider possible challenges by parents
and pupils under the Human Rights Act". Headteachers' leaders said today
that this guidance, seen by the Evening Standard, appeared directly to
contradict Mr Blair.

John Dunford, general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association, said
today: "The reaction of any reasonable headteacher to this guidance would
be not to touch random drugs testing with a bargepole."

The policy was further undermined by a former chief constable.

Francis Wilkinson, former head of Gwent Police and current patron of drugs
charity Transform, said headteachers would have to get consent from pupils
and parents to carry out any tests.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It is a non-starter. You can't do
it without consent, and a child can't give informed consent, so you would
get consent from parents. Some won't agree and, of course, even if they do,
a child can certainly refuse.

"Do you say it is a condition of entry to a school that consent is given by
parents? The state has the responsibility of educating everyone.

"It is difficult to see how this could possibly work. It's surprising that
it's been suggested apparently without consultation with many of those who
are going to have to make it work."

At the weekend, Mr Blair said in a newspaper interview: "We can't force
them [schools] to do it, but if heads believe they have a problem in their
school, then they should be able to do random drug-testing."

A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills today denied that
its guidance was at variance with the Prime Minister's weekend interview.