Norma Foley announces plans to tackle bullying in Irish schools

The plan covers various aspects.

Norma Foley has announced that she plans to implement a new project in order to prevent and address bullying in schools.

Cineáltas: Action Plan on Bullying is set to tackle cyber-bullying, racist bullying, gender-identity bullying and sexual harassment in schools, as well as other issues.

The initial steps included will see a €5million pilot programme of counselling supports for primary school students and all secondary schools will now be required to have Student Support Teams in place.

Anti-bullying procedures will also be updated in schools and professional development and training will be introduced for all school staff and parents.

A new Student Participation Unit and an expert group, chaired by Professor Laura Lundy, Professor of Education Law and Children’s Rights at Queen’s University will also be introduced.

Over a five year period, there are plans to implement 61 “actions” and the new plan will be reviewed through feedback from students, parents, school staff and other relevant agencies.

Speaking about the new scheme, the Minister for Education said, according to Extra.ie: “I am keenly aware of the harm that experiencing bullying of any type can cause our children and young people and I am fully committed to implementing the actions in Cinéaltas.