Photo: Xinhua

 China’s top education authority took significant actions on Wednesday to cope with school bullying, which has been hard to eradicate within the country. 

A series of actions include investigating campuses where bullying has occurred, dealing with students who are confirmed to have bullied, and strengthening relevant education for all school students, stressing that all bullying incidents should be reported in time to the police and the education authorities. 

It also noted that a long-term anti-bullying mechanism is needed in order to build a steady school environment with safety and harmony, and to promote the healthy and happy growth of students.

According the data provided by China Justice Big Data Service in September 2018, 2,600 cases of school bullying have been heard by People’s courts at all levels from 2015 to 2017, which has brought a serious social impact.

On 26 January, a junior-year student was pushed to the ground, beaten and kicked by other boys in school uniform.

An online video shot in 2019 showed a 16-year-old girl kneeling on the ground being beaten by her schoolmates in Heqing county, Southwest China’s Yunnan Province.

Another online video showed a middle-school student being beaten by schoolmates with hangers and a broom in their dormitory, which occurred in Guigang city, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region located in South China in 2019.

The education authority has introduced relevant measures towards this issue before.

Earlier in 2016, China has issued a notice requiring local primary and secondary schools to investigate and rectify school bullying.