Schools turn a blind eye, teachers fail to recognize peer violence: DRI report shows that the dangerous phenomenon has not been suppressed

Peer violence has not decreased, and measures taken by the authorities to prevent and combat this phenomenon over the past eight years have not yielded results. Almost a third of teachers do not recognize certain behaviors as forms of violence, although everyone claims otherwise, and schools do not always follow instructions and prescribed protocols.

This was concluded by the State Audit Institution (SAI), during the audit "Success of Combating Peer Violence in Montenegro", which was led by Senator Branislav Radulović, while a member of the collegium Siniša Čađenović.

The Montenegrin education information system recorded 605 cases of peer violence during the previous four school years, while the Police Directorate registered 29 criminal offenses committed by 50 minors last year.

According to the DRI report, which refers to last year's analysis by the Institute for Education, schools that do not record violence most often do not implement preventive activities. Thus, in the 2022/2023 school year, only 11,5 percent of schools conducted surveys on violence, but without an in-depth analysis of risk factors, although the Institute provided them with a standardized questionnaire. Not a single school, the report explains, used it.

"The survey showed that 29,4 percent of teachers do not recognize certain behaviors (such as hair pulling or pinching) as forms of violence, although all surveyed teachers claim that they know how to recognize violence in theory. In 2024/2025, the Education Inspectorate found irregularities in compliance with the Instructions to Schools - Division of Responsibilities and Actions for the Purpose of Prevention and in Cases of Violence and Vandalism in 38 percent of cases (10 out of 26 reports), which indicates that they do not always follow the prescribed protocols," the DRI report states.

Strategy - a dead letter on paper

Although several strategic and operational documents with a large number of planned activities were adopted in the observed period, after the expiration of the Strategy for the Prevention and Protection of Children from Violence 2017-2021 and the Program for Combating Peer Violence 2019-2021, there was a break in strategic planning in the period 2022-2025, the auditors explain.

As temporary solutions, they claim, short-term action plans and sets of measures were adopted, but without mutual coordination and clear continuity.

The SAI indicates that measures have been taken to strengthen the capacity of institutions to combat peer violence, and thus teams for the prevention of violence and vandalism have been formed in all schools.

"In the 2025/2026 school year, the number of pedagogues increased from 154 to 183, psychologists from 91 to 120, and in the 2025/2026 school year, four social workers were hired for the first time," the report says.

The DRI points out that the Strategy for the Prevention and Protection of Children from Violence 2025-2029 recognizes peer violence as a growing problem, but does not contain a comprehensive analysis of this phenomenon, nor data on the effects of previous measures.

They claim that the regulatory framework has not been improved in a systematic and timely manner, and planned analyses of legislation have not been carried out, which has led to delays in amending regulations and a lack of an integrated approach.

Thus, in the first year of implementation of the Strategy 2025-2029, no significant progress was achieved, as a large number of activities were not implemented (34,28) or were partially implemented (48,57 percent), while the report does not contain data on effects nor does it allow for an assessment of the contribution of measures to reducing violence.

"The activities implemented are mainly educational in nature, without a clear connection to measurable results in reducing violence," the DRI concludes.

Train teachers, promote the line

Research by the Institute for Education in 2022/2023 on the prevalence and forms of violence in schools showed that 32 percent of students do not feel free to turn to every teacher at school when they need help, 37 percent of students do not know how to react or what to do when they are exposed to some form of violence. Therefore, the DRI recommended that the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MESI) and the Institute for Education take action to introduce a mandatory socio-emotional learning program in all schools and integrate the prevention of peer and online violence into the curriculum.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology should establish mechanisms for monitoring the training provided and its impact on peer violence and provide data on the percentage of teachers who have undergone training, pre- and post-testing results, trends in reported cases, student perceptions through surveys...

This department needs to improve the functionality and availability of the free phone line 080 777 777 through constant promotion of the line, establishing a system for monitoring the use of the line and the outcome of applications, and defining performance indicators, because in the previous two school years, after the interruption, a relatively small number of applications was recorded - 15 each.

The SAI recommended to the Ministry of Social Welfare, Family Care and Demography, in cooperation with competent institutions, to establish a unique model for collecting and consolidating data on peer violence, which would include defined data sources, a unique methodology and set of indicators, and an obligation to annually consolidate and publish data.

They were also recommended to consider the possibility of introducing specific indicators, such as, for example, the percentage of students who have experienced peer violence at school, the number of reported cases, the percentage of students who feel safe at school, using data from institutions, social work centers, and the police.

The ministries were recommended to submit to the SAI an action plan for the implementation of the ten recommendations by July 13, and a report on the actions taken by June 11 of the following year, while the final audit findings are submitted to the Parliament's Committee on Health, Labor and Social Welfare.