The Kingdom's schools are to be provided with National Human Rights Authority centers to help curb bullying and violence between teachers and students. Cases of violence at schools have increased over the last few years. “We have received a lot of complaints concerning school violence and bullying,” said Mufleh Al-Qahtani, head assistant at the NHRA. “Cases such as these need to be monitored by a designated authority that can teach students how to protect themselves,” Al-Qahtani added. “The Ministry of Education addresses the rights of both students and teachers,” Al-Qahtani said. “But problems arise when students have no idea of what their rights are,” he added. Many students are too embarrassed to discuss such issues. “Our main aim,” Al-Qahtani declared, “is to improve the human rights situation in schools through the required syllabi and encourage students to discuss their rights openly.” “We have already submitted many syllabi for universities, but they are still under discussion by the Ministry of Higher Education.” “Submitting a human rights syllabus for primary and secondary school students is extremely difficult. We need to discuss how to present a suitable syllabus for each level.” Health Affairs Management also receives numerous cases concerning both domestic violence and school violence. “School violence affects many students today, so to combat this we have given lectures in malls, schools, as well as government hospitals to inform people about their rights and also to educate them on how best to protect themselves,” said Dr. Sami Badawood, head of Jeddah Health Affairs Management. The establishment of Human Rights Centers in schools would significantly reduce the number of cases of school violence, Dr. Badawood hoped. __
