Reporting centre and duty to report
There will be an independent reporting centre where students and parents can turn. This is necessary because it is known that many students do not dare to report incidents such as bullying at school, and that when incidents are reported, action is not always taken. For incidents that go a step further, schools will have a duty to report them. For now, not all schools report serious incidents.
Stricter supervision
The Inspectorate will intervene earlier and more forcefully if a school does not appear to be safe for all students. To make this possible, schools will provide more information about social safety at their school. This will allow for quicker intervention when necessary. And if the situation does not improve quickly enough, action will also be taken more swiftly.
Another aspect of free and safe education is countering the spread of anti-democratic, anti-integration and/or anti-rule-of-law ideas in formal and informal education. The government also wants to keep a close eye on this and intervene more quickly and effectively in such cases. In this way, we must prevent young people from adopting ideas that undermine the rule of law, alienate them from society and thereby contribute to polarisation. The new citizenship law contributes to this in the first place. In addition, the government will seek further advice from the State Advocate in the coming period and collect signals of suspected abuses.
Feeling safe at school
Last year, 9 out of 10 students felt (very) safe at school. This also means that 1 in 10, or tens of thousands of students, do not feel safe and free. In 2021, girls were more often victims of sexually inappropriate behaviour than in 2018. LGBTQ students feel less safe than in 2018, and they are more often deliberately harassed. Students are also less inclined to be friends with LGBTQ students, and least inclined to be friends with transgender girls.
Minister Wiersma concludes his letter with another explanation of why the stronger approach is necessary: “I began this letter with the stories of students and teachers who experienced terrible things at school, things that in no way align with the idea of a free and safe school. The fact that students are hurt so deeply at such a young age touches you in the depths of your soul. I cannot prescribe it, but in fact everyone working in education should watch a documentary such as ‘Endlessly Bullied’ to become fully aware of the seriousness of such situations. It makes it crystal clear that we must draw a very clear line here and do everything in our power to protect these students and give them the opportunity to flourish, as they deserve. This is more than a policy agenda; it is our shared duty.”