Concerns continue to be raised regarding the trend of violence in schools and the National Substance Abuse Advisory Council has stated in its 2018 report that schools should set into action strong disciplinary measures which perpetrators of the act will face, if they fail to abide by the institution’s rules and regulations.

According to the 2018 report, there were 20,462 cases of violence in schools.

Last year, there were 4,604 cases of bullying in schools, 234 cases of cyber bullying, 3,449 cases of punching, 857 cases of beating, 1,574 cases of slapping, 4,190 cases of swearing and 5,554 cases of name calling.

9,529 of these school offences were committed against girls while 10,933 cases were committed against boys.

There were 218 cases of sexual offences in primary schools. There were 70 cases of harassment, 12 cases of defilement, 8 cases of rape, 12 cases of attempted rape, 3 cases of sexting, 89 cases of poking and there were also 24 cases of teenage pregnancy in primary schools.

For the secondary schools, there were 360 cases of sexual offences. There were 154 cases of harassment, 7 cases of defilement, 11 cases of rape, 5 cases of attempted rape, 5 cases of sexting, 81 cases of poking and 97 cases of teenage pregnancy.

The National Substance Abuse Advisory Council says there should be up‑to‑date security measures in schools and school‑sponsored events, to ensure that students are properly searched and stripped of any kind of weapon before entering the premises.

It says the school buildings and school‑sponsored events should also be properly guarded in order to quickly detect any possible threats of violence.

The council says the need to engage students in awareness campaigns cannot be over emphasized.

It also states that students should be counseled and enlightened on anger‑management, conflict resolution, character development and a host of other topics that will help to deal with the psychological issues associated with school violence.