544 cases of bullying reported in the 2018-2019 scholastic year

Education Minister Evarist Bartolo has said that there were 544 cases of bullying registered with the Department against Bullying during the 2018-2019 scholastic year.

Bartolo was responding to a set of parliamentary questions about bullying tabled by government whip Byron Camilleri. The first question dealt with students bullying other students, and asked for the number of cases reported, and the kind of steps taken.

Every time a case of bullying between students emerges, the National School Support Services within the Education Directorate, as well as the schools concerned, took the measures needed according to the nature of the specific case, he said. Such measures include counselling and guidance sessions for the victims and aggressors, sessions with psychologists, sessions with social workers and other professionals as needed.

Aside from this, he said, guidance teachers from the anti-bullying team visited schools where there were reports of bullying, so that through established procedures and measures, they provided their professional expertise.

The second question dealt with reports of students bullying teachers, and also asked what steps were taken in such cases.

The minister said that the Director General for Educational Services had informed him that 30 reports pertaining to 10 separate cases were registered on a portal launched as a form of support for educators in January 2019.

The director-general had also received 13 additional cases through other processes, he said. Of these 23 cases, one of the cases was the same, the information showed.

The cases were referred to college principal and, with the assistance of Appoġġ, were closed, Bartolo said.