Current status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights report, Racially Motivated Bullying: Policies and Recording in Scotland's Schools, published in November 2022, which found that, in 2020-21, 61% of schools did not record any incidents of bullying using the SEEMiS Bullying and Equalities module, and 83% of schools did not record any incidents of racially motivated bullying.
Bullying or racism of any kind is unacceptable and must be addressed quickly and effectively whenever it arises. Schools need to be clear on the distinctions between bullying and other forms of prejudice such as racism.
It is for schools and local authorities to decide what action should be taken depending on the individual circumstances of challenging behaviour. We expect schools and authorities to record and monitor all incidents of bullying and racism in schools.
On 23 February 2023, HM Inspectors of Education published their report of the thematic inspection we commissioned on the national approach to recording and monitoring bullying incidents in schools.
There are positive findings in the report that we should build on. However, we acknowledge that there is also room for improvement and we are taking immediate action to ensure schools and school staff have the right support in place to prevent and respond to bullying.
We are also working with a wide range of anti-racism organisations to further strengthen resources and approaches to prevent and respond to racist incidents through the Anti-Racism in Education Programme Board.