Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 498: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the way in which it is expected she or her Department can have an up to date appraisal of the extent of school bullying in the absence of a direct liaison between schools and her Department; if she intends to create a monitoring mechanism; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23874/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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There is no absence of a direct liaison between schools and my Department.

The evaluation of all school policies, including a policy to deal with bullying behaviour, is part of the Whole School Evaluation process. WSE involves a full examination of all the varied activities of a school — from teaching standards to the availability of extra-curricular activities, the ethos of the school and the implementation of policies in areas such as bullying and health and safety. The inspection process also includes consultation with parents, staff members and students.

I am acutely aware of the issue of bullying in schools and my Department has in place a multi-faceted strategy to tackle the issue. The education of students in both primary and post-primary schools in relation to anti-bullying behaviour is a central part of the SPHE curriculum. SPHE is now a compulsory subject both at primary level and in the junior cycle of post-primary schools. The SPHE curriculum provides for the development of personal and social skills including self-awareness, respect for others, self-esteem and communication skills, all of which are important elements in addressing the issue of bullying. In Primary education, the issue of bullying is addressed in the SPHE curriculum in the Strand "Myself and Others" from Infant classes onwards. In Second-level education, the issue of bullying is addressed from first year onwards in the SPHE Curriculum at Junior Cycle, in the Module on "Belonging and Integrating".

Each school is required to have in place a policy which includes specific measures to deal with bullying behaviour, within the framework of an overall school Code of Behaviour and Discipline. Such a code, properly devised and implemented, can be the most influential measure in countering bullying behaviour in schools. Recently, when I addressed the annual conference of the Irish Primary Principals Network, I asked school principals to ensure that effective policies are in place in their schools and that bullying is not tolerated in any way, shape or form.

My Department, in its "Guidelines on Countering Bullying Behaviour in schools", has provided a national framework within which individual school management authorities may meet their responsibilities for implementing effective school-based policies to counter bullying. These guidelines were drawn up following consultation with representatives of school management, teachers and parents, and are sufficiently flexible to allow each school authority to adapt them to suit the particular needs of the school. My Department will keep these Guidelines under review with a view to updating them where necessary.

In recent years, there have been a number of pilot programmes which have also addressed this issue. Pilot programmes are utilised as a means of informing possible new initiatives or how best existing provision may be improved upon. The function of pilot programmes is to test and evaluate different ideas and approaches in order to aid and enhance existing provision. Pilot programmes, when completed, are evaluated in terms of programme content, effectiveness and appropriateness and the recommendations and findings are considered in the context of developing existing programmes and structures which are designed to meet the needs of schools at local level.

My Department also participates in an OECD "International Network on School Bullying and Violence". Sharing good practice and the most up to date approaches to addressing issues in this area is a key objective of the group.

An effective framework is in place whereby schools are given guidelines and support in how to tackle bullying. I urge all schools to ensure that they have the procedures in place to deal with bullying so that all children can feel safe and happy at school.