South African pupils are “the most bullied kids in the world”, according to the country’s education minister. The Africa Check team sharpened their pencils to verify the claim.

Marking the start of a departmental programme to promote safety in schools, the department of basic education minister, Angie Motshekga, received a symbolic torch of peace from her counterpart in the department of transport, Dipuo Peters.

Speaking to media and delegates, Motshekga said that “we’ve just received our reports of international assessments and those reports tell us that South African kids are the most bullied kids in the world”.

Motshekga added, “studies say kids who are bullied don’t perform well in school because they are depressed, they have low self-esteem and they are just generally unhappy”.

Does the data really show that South African pupils are most bullied? A South African youth advocacy organisation asked us to look into the minister’s statement.

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