Basseterre, St. Kitts, Thursday, November 04, 2021 (Ministry of Education) — The Ministry of Education (MOE) joins the global community as it recognizes the first Thursday in November as International Day against Violence and Bullying at School including Cyberbullying. The 2021 recognition of the day was held on November 04, under the theme ‘Tackling Cyberbullying and other forms of online violence involving children and young people.’
Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Education, Mr. William Vincent Hodge, explained the Ministry’s decision to wear blue.
“We would like our students and teachers as well as persons who work in offices within the Ministry of Education to wear blue, in solidarity with persons who have suffered from bullying in their environments. We are hoping that through this experience, the awareness of bullying will be created amongst our students as well as persons in the wider community.”
PS Hodge noted that though there are some practices in the ministry that are used to mitigate the presence of bullying in schools there are currently no on paper anti-bullying policies.
“We are hoping as well that through this experience the Ministry of Education can begin the process of developing anti-bullying policies, right now we don’t have any of those policies written and in place. Yes, we might have some practice, but we want to now translate that practice into writing where we have standing policies that would enable ministry officials as well as principals in schools to deal with matters relating to bullying,” expressed PS Hodge.
The presence of bullying in schools negatively affects the teaching and learning environment.