Policy against harassment, cyberbullying in schools soon

With several cases of students and staff being harassed in educational institutions emerging recently, the government has decided to form a policy to counteract this. A body formed to devise recommendations on a legal framework for the purpose decided on Wednesday that the draft will be shared by July 31.

The Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) had constituted the on School Education Reforms Committee (SERC) to plug policy gaps on harassment in educational institutions apart from the lack of implementation existing frameworks such as the Harassment at Workplace Act 2010 and the Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) policy on addressing harassment in universities.

The committee met for the second time at the PEIRA office in Islamabad on Wednesday. It was attended by the Parliamentary Secretary for Federal Education and Professional Training Wajiha Akram, PEIRA Chairperson Zia Batool along with experts and educationists.

The PEIRA chairperson stated that SERC has been mandated to finalise a policy on counteracting harassment in educational institutions and that the policy guidelines drafted by the committee will be consulted for any subsequent legislative framework.

With classes now shifting online due to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), participants stressed the need for addressing emerging trends in harassment cases - such as cyberbullying etc.

Akram highlighted the need for adopting an integrated and coordinated approach to address harassment in educational institutions.

In this regard, she said that a two-pronged strategy must be employed, including a prevention strategy and a response strategy. Moreover, the implementation framework of the policy can be categorised into the different academic tiers such as primary, elementary, secondary, higher secondary and tertiary.

Batool shared that the policy will not be confined to schools in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), but it can be adapted for replication by the provinces and at the university level through the HEC.

It was decided that the committee will draft policy guidelines by July 31, before forwarding it to the federal education ministry.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2020.