Education Minister Evarist Bartolo has said that there were 544 cases of bullying registered with the Department against Bullying during the 2018-2019 scholastic year.

Bartolo was responding to a set of Parliamentary Questions about bullying, filed by PL Whip Byron Camilleri. The first question dealt with students bullying students, and asked for the number of cases reported, and the kind of steps taken.

Every time a case of bullying between students emerges, the National School Support Services within the Education Directorate, as well as the schools concerned, took the measures needed according to the nature of the specific case, he said. Such measures include counselling and guidance sessions for the victims and aggressors, sessions with psychologists, sessions with social workers and other professionals as needed.

Aside from this, he said, guidance teachers from the anti-bullying team visited schools where there were reports of bullying, so that through established procedures and measures, they provided their professional expertise.

The second question dealt with reports of students bullying teachers, and also asked what steps were taken in such cases.

The minister said that the Director General for Educational Services informed him that 30 separate reports about 10 separate cases were registered on a portal that had been launched as a form of support for educators in January 2019.

The Director General also received 13 more cases, not through the portal. From these 23 cases, one of the cases was the same, the information showed.

The cases were referred to the College principals who, through the aid from Appogg services present in every college, these cases were closed, Bartolo said.