The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Better to “catch them young” when it comes to road safety

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Wednesday, Jul 01, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Better to “catch them young” when it comes to road safety

Meera Srinivasan

Graded syllabus developed by the Traffic Police to be introduced in schools soon

— FILE PHOTO

SAFETY VITAL: It is important to teach students road safety rules.

CHENNAI: It is around 8 a.m. and scores of children attired in their smart uniforms walk along the pavements near the Santhome area to reach their schools. While some wait for the school watchman or the traffic policeman to help them cross, a few others quickly run to the other side, with their huge schoolbags and lunch baskets.

The scene is not exclusive to this area. It is not uncommon to find children run and cross roads or get down from overcrowded autorickshaws or vans or board buses in motion. The rapid increase in the number of vehicles in the city has also brought into focus the need for improving the road safety of school children. In an attempt to address the issues, the State’s School Education Department is working on integrating aspects on road safety with the school curriculum.

According to a senior official of the department, a graded syllabus developed by the Traffic Police will soon be introduced in schools. “We want to have a module that will train students in various aspects of safety on the road,” he said. Some educational boards, including the CBSE, already have units on road safety.

Experts think it is a welcome move, as they feel that it is better to “catch them young.” Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Shakeel Akhter said while students of classes eight and nine, who are part of the Road Safety Patrol (RSP) wing of schools, pick up some practical knowledge about road safety it would be valuable if more students had access to important theoretical and practical aspects about road safety.

“Traffic wardens and Traffic Department personnel train students of the RSP. It is important to educate younger students on aspects of road safety. Some institutions have been doing it,” he said.

R.Vijayakumar, retired physical director, Don Bosco Matriculation School, said teaching road safety to students was as important as imparting health and hygiene. “If they learn these lessons as children, they will practise them when they become adults,” he said.

B. Sudha, principal, T.S.T. Rajah Girls Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Tondiarpet, said her school was imparting lessons on road safety through classroom activities such as role plays. “It is very important in today’s context, considering the traffic in the city,” she said. School heads seemed to feel that introducing such a curriculum in Class VI would be apt.

From Wednesday, the Traffic Police will intensify their check to ascertain if city schools are adhering to road safety norms as mentioned in the letters sent out by the department to the schools recently.

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