Gatchalian sounds alarm on unreported bullying cases; wants improved mechanisms for reporting

Senator Win Gatchalian is urging the Department of Education (DepEd) to improve its mechanisms for the reporting of bullying cases in the country's schools.

Gatchalian pointed to the discrepancies on the DepEd's data and the findings of international large-scale assessments which, according to the senator, points to a large number of cases that went unreported.

In a Senate panel hearing that reviewed the implementation of the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013 (Republic Act No. 10627), DepEd reported that bullying cases have been on the rise since School Year (SY) 2014-2015, when there were 5,624 cases reported. The highest number of cases were recorded in SY 2018-2019 when figures reached 21,521. The number dropped to 11,637 for SY 2019-2020 possibly due to the shift to distance learning from face-to-face classes.

Gatchalian cited the results of the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) when the Philippines got the highest percentage of 15-year-old learners, out of 79 countries, who reported experiencing bullying at least a few times a month. Based on the study's results, 65% of learners reported experiencing being bullied.

The 2019 Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) also revealed that 62.5% of the country's Grade 5 learners reported experiencing bullying. Compared to other Southeast Asian countries, the Philippines' Grade 5 learners are the most exposed to bullying.

"If you look at PISA and SEA-PLM figures, we're talking about more than 60%, 11,000 is not even one percent of the total student population, so merong discrepancy. If you look at DepEd's numbers, ang layo. What the large-scale examinations are saying is that it's up to 65%, so if we convert that to the student population we're talking about up to 17.5 million students as opposed to 11,000, so how do we reconcile that?" Gatchalian observed.

"The first order of business is to improve mechanisms for reporting because there are many students who are not reporting, who are scared of reporting and we can see that there's a disparity between what is being gathered in large scale international assessments and what's on the ground, and that leads me to a conclusion that our units on the ground are not functioning," Gatchalian said.

Gatchalian nababahala sa underreporting ng mga kaso ng bullying

Hinihimok ni Senador Win Gatchalian ang Department of Education (DepEd) na paigtingin pa ang mga mekanismo nito sa pag-ulat ng mga kaso ng bullying sa mga paaralan sa bansa.

Nababahala si Gatchalian na hindi nagtutugma ang datos ng DepEd sa resulta ng mga international large-scale assessment patungkol sa bullying. Ayon sa senador, lumalabas na malaking bilang ng mga kaso ng bullying ang hindi naiuulat.

Sa isang pagdinig hinggil sa pagrepaso ng pagpapatupad ng Anti-Bullying Act of 2013 (Republic Act No. 10627), iniulat ng DepEd na patuloy ang pagtaas ng mga kaso ng bullying mula School Year (SY) 2014-2015, kung saan may 5,624 na kaso ang naitala. Naitala noong SY 2018-2019 ang pinakamataas na bilang ng kaso ng bullying na umabot sa 21,521. Bumaba ito noong SY 2019-2020 kasunod ng pagpapatupad ng distance learning at kawalan ng face-to-face classes.

Ngunit batay sa resulta ng 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), 65% ng mga mag-aaral na 15-taong gulang ang nakaranas ng bullying ng ilang beses sa isang buwan. Kung ihahambing sa 78 pang bansa, ang Pilipinas ang may pinakamataas na bilang ng mga insidente ng bullying.

Lumabas din sa resulta ng 2019 Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) na 62.5% ng mga Pilipinong mag-aaral sa Grade 5 ang nakaranas ng bullying. Kung ihahambing muli sa ibang bansa sa Southeast Asia, lumalabas na ang Pilipinas ang may pinakamaraming insidente ng bullying na naitala.

"Kung titignan natin ang resulta ng PISA at SEA-PLM ang nakikita natin mahigit 60%, hindi man lang aabot ng isang porsyento ang 11,000 ng kabuuang populasyon ng mga estudyante, kaya merong discrepancy. Kung titignan natin ang datos ng DepEd ang layo. Kung ang large-scale examinations ang pagbabatayan ay umaabot ng mahigit 65% ang mga kaso. Kung itutumbas natin ito sa populasyon ng mga mag-aaral, 17.5 milyon ang pinag-uusapan natin kumpara sa 11,000. Paano natin pagtutugmain ang mga numero?" tanong ni Gatchalian.

"Prayoridad natin na paigtingin ang mga mekanismo sa pag-ulat dahil maraming mga mag-aaral ang hindi nag-uulat at natatakot. Nakikita natin na hindi nagtutugma ang nakakalap na datos at sa mga resulta ng large scale international assessments. Dahil dito, lumalabas na hindi nagiging epektibo ang mga units natin sa mga paaralan," pahayag ng senador.