No drug testing at schools, student union says

SCHOOLS should not be allowed test students for drugs, a student leader warned yesterday.

Union of Secondary Students president Daire Hickey said schools could spend money more wisely on improving education facilities.

Mr Hickey was responding to reports that more than a dozen fee-paying schools are interested in following the example of two Dublin schools operating a drug-testing scheme.

Under the system at Sutton Park in Dublin, a student who tests positive must take counselling and other support measures. If they test positive again, they are expelled.

"We're in favour of anything that limits the use of drugs among students but it has to be done carefully, and without infringing their rights," Mr Hickey said.

He said if somebody experimented with drugs as a teenager but stopped, there should be no record of it.

"I don't think it's a school's place to test children it could be more the responsibility of the health authorities. But the money would be better spent on meeting everyday needs such as gyms, electronic equipment and teaching aids."

Education Minister Noel Dempsey made clear that he had no direct role in such policies, citing the 1998 Education Act.

It sets out that a school's board of management is responsible for education and a spokesperson for Mr Dempsey said the question of mandatory drug testing would have to be addressed by a school's board.

However, caution was urged about expelling students in any circumstance of substance use or abuse.

"The ultimate sanction of expulsion can have the effect of alienating a student from mainstream sources of help and may result in this student becoming more involved in the culture of drug misuse. In this regard, expulsion should be seen as a last resort," Mr Dempsey's spokesperson said.

Irish Vocational Education Association general secretary Michael Moriarty said drug use was a growing problem in schools. The IVEA represents the country's VECs, which manage almost 250 second-level schools.

"I am not surprised that some schools might take the testing policy because all decisions have to be made in the interest of the total school population," Mr Moriarty said.