Gatchalian calls for enforcement of anti-bullying measures

Senator Sherwin "Win" Gatchalian on Saturday called on the Department of Education (DepEd) to strictly enforce and monitor anti-bullying measures in schools after results of a global education survey found that Filipino students were the most exposed to bullying.

According to results of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018, 65 percent of Filipino students "reported being victims of any type of bullying act at least a few times a month."

This is higher than the Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average of 23 percent and the percentage results of other countries.

The survey also found that Filipino students performed the poorest out of 79 countries in a reading comprehension exam. 

“Kailangang tignan natin ang kabuuang larawan kung bakit pinakamababa ang ating mga mag-aaral sa PISA," Gatchalian, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts, and Culture, said in a statement.

"Kung susuriin nating mabuti ang pag-aaral na ito, lumalabas na isa sa mga dahilan ang bullying kung bakit nahuhuli ang ating mga mag-aaral,” he added.

According to the PISA results, students whose peers co-operated the most scored about 50 points higher in reading while students who "reported being frequently bullied" scored 21 points lower in reading than other students.

Gatchalian argued that efforts against bullying needed to be included in efforts made to improve the country's PISA performance. 

“Nitong mga nakaraang araw, malakas ang panawagan na i-angat ang kalidad ng edukasyon ngunit upang magawa natin ito, kailangang masiguro nating ligtas ang ating mga paaralan upang matuto nang husto ang ating mga mag-aaral,” Gatchalian said.

He also stressed the importance of teaching Values Education. In rolling out anti-bullying measures, Gatchalian said that there had to be an emphasis on how witnesses to bullying could effectively intervene.

“Mahalagang ituro natin sa bawat kasapi ng paaralan ang kanilang tungkulin sa pagtaguyod ng kaligtasan. Hindi lamang mga mag-aaral at guro ang dapat maging bahagi nito, kundi pati mga magulang din at iba pang mga miyembro ng komunidad,” Gatchalian added. — Joahna Lei Casilao/DVM, GMA News