RANDOM drug testing could be introduced in Kent’s secondary schools.

Kent County Council will write to head teachers next term about the possibility of expanding a pilot testing scheme to students throughout the county.

Graham Badman, managing director of children, families and education at KCC, has discussed the plans - made jointly with the Department for Education and Skills - with representatives from Kent Secondary Headteachers’ Forum.

They were joined by representatives from the police and the Kent Drug and Alcohol Action Team (KDAAT). There was advice available for the head teachers to take back to colleagues and school governors.

Mr Badman said: "It gave us all an opportunity to discuss openly the pros and cons of random drug testing and I hope head teachers feel they can now go back to their schools and discuss the idea of taking part in the pilot with a good understanding of how it would work.

"This is not something that can be rushed and full consultation must be carried out within school communities."