Head teachers would have powers to order testing of children

It follows Prime Minister Tony Blair's call that guidance is to be issued to heads for testing in England.

A spokesman for First Minister Jack McConnell said he "would not tolerate a regime that was weaker".

But the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association and the Scottish School Board Association said the idea was "unworkable" and "nonsensical".

Mr Blair told the News of the World newspaper: "If you have a serious problem in your school there is no point in trying to conceal it."

The whole partnership and ethos of education could be undermined if head teachers were then regarded as wardens of Alcatraz Alan Smith Scottish School Board Association

Head teachers south of the border are now going to have the power to test pupils, offer treatment to young users, exclude them or report offenders to police.

The Conservatives have said they would back random testing if parents wanted it.

The Liberal Democrats have objected to the plan in England but have said there would be no knee jerk reaction against its imposition in Scotland.

The Scottish National Party dismissed the suggestion as gesture politics which would not address the problem.

President of the Scottish School Board Association Alan Smith said he was surprised Scottish policy seemed to be being lead by a newspaper report.

Parents will be told if drug testing is being used at their child's school

"There are sufficient powers within the schools to address the issues of drug taking," he told the BBC's Politics Show programme.

"I would be very concerned that it would be seen as a breakdown in the trust between pupils, parents and teachers.

"The whole partnership and ethos of education could be undermined if head teachers were then regarded as wardens of Alcatraz who can, at random, select a pupil for drug testing."

And David Eaglesham, the general secretary of the SSTA, said there were not the resources to try and run a drug testing system.

Mr Eaglesham said: "In practical terms this is quite nonsensical to suggest that schools are in any way equipped to deal with this kind of situation.

Poll support

"This would bring in a whole range of issues to do with physical contact with pupils, for example if you're going to have to take urine samples, how can you guarantee that these are the samples of the pupils concerned without effectively having medical scrutiny of that?"

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Executive said: "Teachers in Scotland are already aware of the need to look out for signs of drug-taking in schools.

"However we will look at any proposal from south of the border to see if there is anything we can learn from them."

Results from an ICM Research poll which appeared in the News of the World suggested 82% of parents and 66% of children support drug testing in schools.