The UN Educational and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) says nearly one in three students worldwide says they have been physically attacked at least once during the year.

The UN agency, in a report published on Wednesday, called for pupils to be better protected from physical, verbal and psychological aggression and cyberbullying.

The report was published on the eve of the International Day against Violence and Harassment in Schools.

“At school, every child should feel respected, accepted and safe so that they can learn and develop,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement.

UNESCO noted that globally, one in three students reported experiencing bullying in the previous month. Cyberbullying is also increasingly widespread, affecting 10 per cent of children.

The agency said these phenomena have serious consequences for learning mental health, as victims of bullying are twice as likely to suffer from severe loneliness, insomnia and suicidal thoughts.

Violence at school disproportionately affects certain groups based on factors such as gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status and other identity markers, with girls particularly vulnerable.

UNESCO said up to a quarter of adolescent girls experience gender-based violence, and up to 40 per cent of these incidents occur at school.

Worldwide, 42 per cent of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth have been “ridiculed, mocked or threatened at school”, mainly by other students, because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, it said.

The UNESCO report underscored the essential role of public policies, standards and multi-sectoral cooperation to curb violence and bullying in education, noting that only 32 states, 16 per cent, have a comprehensive legal framework to address the issue.

It called for immediate and sustained action to transform schools into havens where every student can thrive and be free from fear and harm.

To reinforce efforts, UNESCO produced a global assessment summarising data from the past few years. Its 194 member states also received a set of guidelines, a series of thematic notes and a guide for teachers to combat gender-based violence in schools.

UNESCO also supports many projects on the ground, putting its recommendations into practice, particularly in Africa and Asia, through the Connecting with Respect programme.

This initiative helps prevent gender-based harassment by encouraging pupils to treat each other with respect and showing victims where to turn for help.

UNESCO has trained more than 20,000 educators in West Africa to create a violence-free school environment.

It also launched a new project last month devoted to the mental health of schoolchildren in France.

The two-year project – established in conjunction with the country and the European Commission – aims to strengthen the skills of educational teams in this area and to create student support networks that bring together teachers, educators, health personnel and social services.

The agency further stressed the importance of designing curricula that ensure educational content promotes peace and respect for others, as expressed in its Recommendation on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Sustainable Development, which its member states unanimously adopted last year.

UNESCO established the International Day against Violence and Harassment in Schools, including Cyberbullying, in 2019, held every first Thursday in November.

It recognises that school-related violence in all its forms is an infringement of children’s and adolescents’ rights to education and their health and well-being.

(NAN)