The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Department of Education Program (DEP) shared that in 2023 a total of 153 secondary schools with trained counsellors reported a total of 2,171 bullying cases, with 1,115 cases involving male students and 1,056 involving female students.
This does not include all the 573 schools in Bhutan including extended classrooms.
Around 9,400 students from classes 7 to 12 in 20 secondary schools under Thimphu Thromde are registered with the Artificial Intelligence Zoala App which asks the students on their well being, and what they are upto and why. The App picks up key words, like bullying among others and alerts counsellors and Principals.
Data from the App shows that around 32 percent of the students have experienced bullying.
The cases reported encompass a range of bullying behaviors, including physical bullying, verbal harassment, social exclusion, and cyberbullying.
In 2016 the World Health Organization (WHO), as part of a global effort, conducted a school survey in Bhutan and found that 34% of boarding students and 27% of day school students experienced bullying.
The above data show that bullying is happening in schools, and it is one of the main issues along with academics that is impacting the well being of students. The above data also shows that bullying happens to roughly around 3 in every 10 children.
When asking what Ministry of Education and Skills Development (MoESD) is doing to tackle bullying, DEP said that anti-bullying measures have been significantly strengthened through the implementation of comprehensive Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and guidelines aimed at preventing and addressing bullying in schools.
These include mandatory awareness campaigns that educate students, teachers, and staff about the harmful effects of bullying, and the importance of creating a safe, respectful environment.
Schools have established clear responding and reporting protocols, ensuring that incidents of bullying are promptly addressed, with designated staff trained to handle such cases confidentially and effectively.
Additionally, Anti-Bullying Weeks are organized annually, where schools hold events such as workshops, assemblies, and activities to engage students in discussions, raise awareness, and promote kindness and inclusion. For example, 11th to 17th December was declared as the antibullying week with various awareness programs in schools.
DEP said these efforts aim to enhance a culture of respect and zero tolerance for bullying, encouraging students to report any incidents they experience or witness.
The Thimphu Thromde Education Office also did a Situational Analysis Report, a few months ago for all schools under the Thromde, to check on the well being of students which includes bullying, and the report, which is yet to be made public, also uncovered a lot of bullying in Thimphu schools, public and private.
DEP said the reports reflect the growing awareness among students that bullying is not acceptable, and that they now have the ability to report such incidents to school authorities, including teachers, counsellors and administrators.
DEP said the increase in reported incidents suggests that anti-bullying programs and efforts to create safe and supportive school environments have encouraged students to speak out, empowering them to address bullying, and seek help when needed.
The anti-bullying program lays out the consequences for both the perpetrator and the victim, what bullying is, how its impact victims, takes commitments on not bullying, and lists out a range of activities.
The heightened awareness of what is bullying and that it is wrong, with reporting mechanisms, ensures that more cases are coming forward, which would have been hidden in the past.
The School Health and Wellbeing Strategy implemented from mid-2023 has various programs for student well-being facilitated by trusted peers, teachers or counsellors, and in the case of Thimphu, through the Zoala App to report bullying.
In 2022, school counsellors handled around 24 cases a year with each case given 5 sessions of counselling of 30 minutes each. Now that has gone up to 48 cases each in 2023, showing more awareness among students willing to come forward to report bullying and other issues.
