A top private school that hosted Canadian teen pop sensation Justin Bieber has suspended five pupils for drugs.
ACG Strathallan College in Karaka, South Auckland, caught one pupil dealing drugs and four others buying them.
The Ministry of Education, which has been made aware of the incident, did not know
what the drugs were.
Strathallan has refused to answer questions from the Herald on Sunday.
The school takes children from preschool to Year 13.
The suspended pupils were between Years 10-12.
The Education Act requires private schools to notify the ministry of all suspensions and expulsions, but the ministry has no power to intervene when students are caught with drugs.
"Suspensions at private schools are a contractual or civil issue between the school and family. The Ministry has no power to intervene," a spokesman said.
The ministry is told of every suspension or expulsion so it can arrange the student's enrolment at another school if required.
New Zealand Secondary Schools association president Patrick Walsh said private schools were more sensitive about these type of cases because negative publicity may affect the school's commercial interests.
"High schools are often sensitive about bad publicity and private schools more so because any issues about drugs tends to tarnish the reputation of the school."
Walsh said the flip side of this was the schools which fronted up could be seen to be proactive. Drugs were present in every high school, he said.
"I would think there would be no high school in the country that could claim to be drug-free.
"That's why principals have to be vigilant about any drug issues in their schools and be proactive and assertive about it.
"The important thing is how schools deal with it."
Drug education information is provided to schools by the Ministry of Health and the police.
