Police: Stop the bullying or expect us in schools

Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu has issued a stern warning to parents to take responsibility of their children’s behaviour, signalling Police pres­ence in schools as a deterrent to bullying.

“If bullying does not stop, we will have Police officers present in the schools,” Mr Tudravu said.

Mr Tudravu did not mince his words on Friday when responding to questions about an online video of a nine-year-old student in Lau­toka who was bullied in his school.

In 2022 and 2023, the Ministry of Education recorded a stagger­ing 8000 cases of bullying, raising grave concerns about the education system.

The video, which was posted on Facebook by the child’s mother last Thursday, showed the child speak of how he was punched by another student in the school, injuring his eye.

“Last week, two boys called me names, ‘fat rat and fat balloon’. This week, they punched me in the eye, and I have a black eye. Before I was punched, I told him that I did not want to fight. We were friends at that time,” the child was heard saying in the video.

The child was also pleading with parents to “please disci­pline your children and do not let them fight other children. Please stop bullying”.

Minister for Education Aseri Radrodro said the ministry does not condone any form of bullying in schools.

“The Ministry of Education policy has clearly stipulated processes which all heads of schools and school populations shall comply in instances of bullying,” he said.

“Incidents of bullying in schools are usually referred to the National Substance Abuse Advisory Council for their nec­essary attention and action and referral to relevant authori­ties.”

Mr Tudravu said the extent of bullying in schools was a seri­ous concern and he called on parents to take ownership.

“Bullying has become preva­lent in some of our schools. If it does not stop, we will have Police officers present in the schools,” he said.

“I think the ownership is on the parents and stakeholders. Teachers can only do so much, but once parents take owner­ship of looking after children with the counsel and teaching at home, when they come to school, they should not be prac­tising bullying.”

Mr Tudravu urged parents and guardians to be vigilant about the behaviour of their children in schools. 

Teachers’ unions

Fijian Teachers Associa­tion general secretary Paula Manumanuitoga strongly ad­vised against having Police in schools.

“If bullying to an extent is classified as criminal, then pa­rental responsibility should be taken into consideration,” he said.

“We know the law, and we will not smack any child who bullies others, after we’ve counselled them.

“This is why we are calling for corrective behavioural meas­ures in schools, and the heads of schools should be the ones al­lowed to implement them. Bul­lies need to be reprimanded.”

Fiji Teachers Union general secretary Munippa Goundar welcomed the help of the Police.

“Do Police have the manpow­er? If they do and they have the budget allocation, why not?” he said.

“Teachers need help with dis­ciplining children, and they can help with other issues like school crossing.”

Fiji has a total of 179 sec­ondary schools, 739 primary schools and 867 kindergartens.