Pupil well-being is decreasing

The fourth well-being survey of Faroese school pupils in 16 years was recently published.

School bullying has been a feature of all these surveys.

The latest survey shows that 17 percent of pupils report having experienced bullying, the highest proportion of any of the four surveys.

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Pupils were also asked about their general well-being at school.

About half of the respondents reported having frequent or occasional stomach pain, and about half reported having frequent or occasional headaches.

Six percent of pupils said they skip classes frequently and 26 percent do so occasionally, citing that they cannot face being there.

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According to the new survey, class cohesion has declined from 69 percent in 2017 to 56 percent in the latest survey.

Fewer pupils now believe that the school learning environment is peaceful and non-disruptive. In 2017, 33 percent of pupils said this, but in the latest survey, the figure had gone down to 25 percent.

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The survey authors recommend:

- that pupils’ councils should be strengthened to increase well-being for pupils

- that class sizes should not exceed 20 pupils to make it easier for pupils to focus

- classes should be better organised so that they capture pupils’ interest.

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

More Faroese News in English.