Education Minister Addresses Bullying

ZIZ News — Throughout the entire world, bullying in schools continues to be a major problem faced by school administrators, Ministries of Education and governments.

Here in St. Kitts, the Minister of Education, hon. Nigel Carty acknowledged that there is most likely bullying in local schools, as in any other school system.

He said, “This has not been highlighted as a major concern. I meet with principals once a month; I meet with our education planning team once per month and this has not been highlighted as a concern in recent times. But I just want to say to you that we believe that there is incidence of bullying in our schools.”

He said upon taking over as Minister of Education four years ago, there was a serious problem of criminal activity in schools and they have since taken steps to address this problem.

“We brought in a regionally trained psychologist who has been, since that time, leading what we call our Child Friendly School initiative… really promoting safety, security, friendship among our students and teachers in our schools,” he added.

In 2011, the ministry also launched its Project PURPLE campaign which stands for Promoting Understanding, Respect and Peace in the Learning Environment and is geared towards assessing and designing school intervention plans to foster peace within schools.