Toward Safer Schools: A Comparative Analysis of Basic Education Policies on Violence Prevention and Child Protection in Southeast Asia

School violence and child safety policies in Southeast Asia have undergone significant transformation, driven by ASEAN-level commitments and national reforms. This comparative analysis examines legal frameworks, ministerial orders, and programmatic strategies across 11 Southeast Asian jurisdictions, including Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Viet Nam, in ten domains of child safety. The study interrogates policy architecture (laws, regulations, and circulars), implementation mechanisms (school-based teams, reporting pathways, counselling, and restorative practices), and alignment with international standards (the UNCRC, the Safe Schools Declaration, and INSPIRE). Regional advancements include explicit anti-bullying statutes (e.g., RA 10627, Philippines), integrated child protection policies (e.g., DepEd Order 40 s.2012), cyberbullying criminalization (e.g., Singapore’s Protection from Harassment Act), and statutory prohibitions on corporal punishment (e.g., amendments to Lao PDR laws). However, persistent gaps involve uneven prohibition of corporal punishment, inconsistent cyberbullying protocols, limited data, and conflict-affected contexts. Findings underscore the need for a coherent regional framework operationalizing prevention, protection, and response. Recommendations include policy standardization, multi-sectoral task forces, robust monitoring indicators, and capacity-building initiatives to strengthen education systems and ensure safe learning environments across Southeast Asia.