Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 30 June 2004
84 Mr. Noonan asked the Minister for Education and Science when the research work being undertaken by Mater Dei into the incidence of homophobic bullying in schools will be completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19438/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department's gender equality unit, as part of its remit, supports research on the nine grounds of equality as delineated in the Equal Status Act 2000. The research work referred to by the Deputy is one such project. It is being conducted by Fr. James Norman of the Mater Dei Institute and involves an attitudinal survey of teachers of social, personal and health education, SPHE, at second level. The research is intended to establish the experience of teachers in both single-sex and co-educational schools in dealing with the issues of HIV-AIDS education, sexuality education and homophobia as part of the SPHE programme. The survey is expected to be completed in autumn 2004.
Following from the survey results, it is anticipated that a second phase of the project will involve initiating an action research project. In the action research project a small number of schools will be invited to participate in a pilot project to develop resources to address the issue of homophobia among pupils. It is expected that the second phase of the project will be completed by the end of 2005.
I welcome the survey because we cannot do anything if we do not have the correct information with which to work and I welcome the Minister's reply in that regard. When the survey is complete and the results have been published, the Minister referred to a pilot project being initiated. In this context, has the Minister changed his mind on implementing a national school bullying programme?
It is nearly a year and a half since two groups appeared before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Science, one from Trinity College Dublin and the other from a pilot project which was conducted in County Donegal to examine bullying. Those groups' statistics on what they had achieved in comparison to other areas, in which bullying programmes are hit and miss, show what can be done if a proper programme is in place. In this context, will the Minister reconsider his response to me last year and will he consider implementing a national school bullying programme using this research and other factors?
The groups to which the Deputy referred are not the only ones which have done work on bullying in schools. The Deputy may be aware of another in the North Eastern Health Board area. I do not know if the Department can add much more to what is already in place. It is a matter for each school to have in place anti-bullying policies.
The Minister may state that these policies are mandatory but some schools are not implementing them.
If the Deputy brings to my attention a school that is not doing so, I will undertake to pursue the matter with the school concerned. However, such cases have not been brought to my attention. I accept that some schools may implement the policies better and place greater priority on them than others. I acknowledge the Deputy has a particular interest in this issue and I will raise the matter internally in the Department to see what information we have on how well the schools anti-bullying programmes are being implemented. I will revert to the Deputy at that stage if I feel there is a need to reiterate the policy.
