Regulatory texts for the implementation of the system to combat harassment and violence in schools (June 2022)

Law No. 1.513 of 3 December 2021 (JDM No. 8569 of 17 December 2021) added a new section to Law No. 1.334 of 12 July 2007 on education on combating harassment and violence in schools.

Four regulatory texts (published in JDM No. 8595 of 17 June 2022) specify the terms and conditions of application.

SUMMARY

♦ Ordonnance Souveraine n° 9.296 du 10 juin 2022 relative aux missions du Délégué à la prévention et à la lutte contre le harcèlement et la violence en milieu scolaire

The Delegate for the prevention of and fight against harassment and violence in schools, appointed by the Director of National Education, Youth and Sport, has five types of missions

1°) to centralise reports relating to violence and harassment in schools and to draw up an annual report on the reports processed

2°) to periodically draw up a report on situations of harassment and violence within the Principality's public or private educational establishments

3°) to issue an opinion on plans to prevent and combat harassment and violence in educational establishments and to monitor their implementation

4°) advising the Director of National Education, Youth and Sport on the fight against harassment and violence in schools

5°) assisting school heads and referents in charge of preventing and combating harassment and violence, as necessary, to prevent, deal with and take charge of harassment and violence in the school environment.

♦ Ordonnance Souveraine n° 9.297 du 10 juin 2022 relative aux formations à la prévention et à la lutte contre le harcèlement et la violence en milieu scolaire destinées aux personnels des établissements d’enseignement

The conditions and modalities of compulsory and at least annual training for educational staff, school management staff, principal educational advisers, educational counsellors, supervisory staff, social and health staff, chaplains and catechists (in application of art. 50-4 of Law n° 1.334) are as follows

>Training to prevent, identify and deal with situations of harassment and violence must cover the following points

1°) The phenomenon of harassment and its consequences;

2°) Procedures for reporting and dealing with harassment and violence in schools;

3°) the internal and external resources available to them.

> All staff newly assigned to a Monegasque educational establishment must receive this training within the first three months of taking up their post.

> In addition, a multi-category team of staff designated by the head teacher and including the referent responsible for preventing and combating harassment and violence (who is the main contact for pupils and parents and deals with reports within the school) is specifically trained in the acquisition of tools and effective methods for combating harassment and violence.

♦ Ordonnance Souveraine n° 9.298 du 10 juin 2022 relative aux séances d’information, de formation et de prévention contre le harcèlement et la violence en milieu scolaire destinées aux élèves

Every school should organise annual information, training and prevention sessions for pupils on bullying and violence in schools as part of the subject matter, in accordance with the official school curricula, and through educational activities appropriate to the age of the pupils.

The proposed sessions must be sufficiently concrete and of a nature to arouse the interest of the pupils and to allow, where appropriate, sustained attention from them.

The educational actions must:

1) take into account the diagnosis of the school's anti-harassment and anti-violence plan and be in line with its objectives,

2) be part of the continuity and complementarity of school programmes,

3) promote collective or individual initiatives,

4) encourage cross-curricular teaching approaches

5) contribute to developing partnerships. These actions can be carried out by external partners, after formal agreement from the Director of National Education, Youth and Sports.

♦ Arrêté Ministériel n° 2022-327 du 10 juin 2022 relatif au plan de prévention et de lutte contre le harcèlement et la violence dans les établissements d’enseignement

The plan to prevent and combat harassment and violence is drawn up by the school management. It must be presented to the school's internal council and approved by the Director of National Education, Youth and Sport. It must be regularly evaluated and adapted as necessary, according to the observations made and the assessment of the school's context.

The prevention and control plan must include the following elements

1°) Diagnosis: a quantitative assessment (drawing up a quantified inventory of the number of incidents and serious acts of harassment and violence recorded in the educational establishment on the basis of school life data) accompanied by an analysis specifying the places, times and circumstances of the acts recorded, as well as any vulnerability factors;

2°) Priority objectives set by the school in this area, taking into account the age of the pupils, the school's environment and the above-mentioned diagnosis;

3°) Actions scheduled to achieve the objectives of the plan, in the following order

• prevention actions (organisation of pupil monitoring to prevent risk situations in the educational establishment, awareness-raising actions among pupils, internal and external projects to improve the quality of life in the educational establishment)
• training measures for school staff, with a list of staff specifically trained in effective tools and methods for combating harassment in schools;
• a procedure for reporting situations of harassment and violence in the school environment, with a formalised information circuit within the school and the identification and contact details of resource persons. The plan must define the respective roles and prerogatives of each actor so that each can act in accordance with his or her professional identity, without substitution;
• The plan must define the respective roles and prerogatives of each person involved so that each can act in accordance with his or her professional identity, without substitution; dealing with situations of harassment and violence in the school environment, in particular measures to support and supervise victims, perpetrators and witnesses of harassment or violence in the school environment, and educational and pedagogical measures likely to remedy or put a stop to harassment or violence in the school environment, or to prevent its recurrence.

The aim of this organisation is to ensure rapid support for victims and regular feedback to those legally responsible. It also includes a formalisation of feedback on an event of harassment or violence in the school environment in order to adapt the treatment of future situations.

4°) Annual evaluation of the plan to prevent and combat harassment and violence, with verification of its relevance, taking into account changes in the context of the school. Indicators to assess the appropriateness of the mechanisms, procedures and interventions put in place must be defined.