MoE to launch anti-bullying app in push against school violence 

The Ministry of Education will be launching a mobile app to address social issues such as bullying in schools.
This was disclosed by Education Minister Sonia Parag during an episode of the Starting Point podcast.
“We have an actual app that we created that we are going to formally launch, but it’s there already,” the Minister said, noting that reports made are being managed by a Health and Family Life Unit within the Ministry of Education.
“These officers will take that report. They have to investigate the matter. The welfare officer and the guidance counsellors are all involved. The parents, the child who is the victim, and the alleged aggressor are involved. And so, at the end of that investigation, depending on what the investigation reveals, then we make a determination on what to do on a case-by-case basis,” Minister Parag explained.
She said the ultimate goal is not only to ensure a safe environment for the victim but also to implement measures designed to reform the bully.
“All we have right now is expelling a student, transferring a student, or suspending a student so that a victim can be in a safer environment. But then what happens to that student? How do we make them into a constructive individual who can constructively contribute to society and the development of society? So those are aspects that we have to look at,” the education Minister said.
Meanwhile, Minister Parag explained that the anti-bullying campaign forms part of a wider government strategy, which will entail the use of social media among students.
In fact, she disclosed that President Dr Irfaan Ali has already assembled a team of Ministers and other stakeholders to deal with this matter.
“We will go out very shortly, before the end of January, to hold a public consultation or at least advertise the date for the public consultation on the use of social media and what measures we can implement that will safeguard our citizens and what they take in from social media, what they are exposed to and all of that and how damaging some content can be and how people use content to destroy other people’s lives and so on. So, these are things that we will be looking at, but that’s a component of bullying that is obviously cyberbullying. It can destroy lives,” the education Minister noted.
The bottom line, she posited, is that it is not only the Education Ministry that has the responsibility to tackle this issue.
“Will we be able to eliminate it? Probably not, but we will work towards reducing it. And I think that when we speak to the public, we have to be extremely candid because this doesn’t start in the schools.  It starts in the communities; it starts in the homes… And that necessarily means that we have to have everybody involved. Everybody – parents, welfare officers, schools, communities at large, those who are leaders in the community, and the religious communities – all of those,” she posited.
The Ministry of Education in November last year officially launched an anti-bullying campaign. The move followed several reported incidents of bullying and fighting in schools across the country.