THE DEPARTMENT OF Education will release guidelines on bullying to schools this week.
It is anticipated that the action plan on bullying for primary and post-primary schools will be issued before Friday, although an official day has not yet een named.
The report will include a number of key recommendations for schools, as well as information on the supports available.
The department is also set to issue mental health guidelines for post-primary schools, but these will be issued on a different date, a spokesperson told TheJournal.ie.
Bullying code
Meanwhile, the Dáil is to debate a Bill on a mandatory bullying code for schools this week. Sinn Féin’s education spokesman Jonathan O’Brien tabled the Education (Welfare) (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2012, which will be debated on Tuesday and Wednesday evening before a vote this Wednesday at 9pm.
It would require teachers or other school officials to inform their board of management about suspected bullying within one day of discovering the issue.
The Bill would then give the board three days in which to discuss the report and write to the parents or guardians of each child involved. Their letter would outline the circumstances and a proposed sanction for the bullying.
The Bill also proposes to create a legal definition of ‘bullying’.
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