The number of children being bullied at secondary school has fallen sharply following concerted efforts to tackle the problem, according to new education ministry figures.

In 2014, 11% of secondary school pupils said they were bullied, but that has now fallen to 5%, the education ministry figures show. At primary schools, one in 10 under-12s say they are the victim of bullying, the same as in 2016 but down from 14% in 2014.

Education minister Arie Slob described the reduction as a ‘tremendous performance from schools, teachers, pupils, parents and everyone else who has worked on this.’

Nevertheless, ‘we must remain on top of the situation’, Slob said, adding that reducing bullying requires a long-haul effort.

Bullying at school hit the headlines in 2012 when three teenagers committed suicide in quick succession because of being bullied at school.

In 2013, then-education minister Sander Dekker and the children’s ombudsman drew up a plan of campaign to tackle the problem. In 2015, all schools were required by law to tackle bullying.

Primary schools

In May this year, a report by five Dutch universities and mental health monitor Trimbos found that only four out of 10 popular methods to combat bullying in primary schools actually worked.

The report also showed 30% of primary school children experience instances of bullying at school and a smaller group, 1 in 14, is bullied more than once a week.

Of this group a third does not tell anyone about the bullying and 97% of these children have been bullied over several years.