By Linda Daniels

Education Minister Naledi Pandor is expected to draft legislation which would spell out the circumstances under which schools can test pupils for drugs.

Responding to a written parliamentary question on the topic of random drug testing, Pandor said that the department's current policy framework on drug abuse states that drug screening or testing should only be used when there is a reasonable suspicion that a child is using drugs.

The minister explained that, at present, testing must be implemented as part of a structured intervention or relapse programme in an "environment that is committed to safeguarding personal rights, privacy, dignity and bodily integrity according to school policy, medical or treatment procedures and ethical guidelines".

Pandor said that she intended drafting legislation on drug testing in schools which would be open to public comment.

She first mooted the idea of drug tests in schools, in the National Assembly, last year.

Pandor said that she believed that drugs might be contributing to the "psychotic kind of conduct" in schoolchildren. At the time, several incidents of violence were reported in schools across the country and some pupils were killed on school premises.

Some schools in the Western Cape and in Durban have already adopted a policy of testing pupils for drugs.

Teachers' unions have come out in support of Pandor's proposed legislation.

Spokesperson for the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu), Thulas Nxesi, said that the union supports any measures to curb disruption in schools.

"We will engage with the legislation when we see it," he said.

The President of the National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa Dave Balt said that he supported Pandor's intended legislation.

"We would prefer to have legislation so that there is no ambiguity on the process (of drug testing)," he said.