Kutty Cop, an initiative by Uyir, teaches children lessons on road safety

The road to safety: Kutty Cops is an initiative that educates children on traffic etiquette with the help of their school teachers

November 16, 2019 02:51 pm | Updated November 18, 2019 12:29 pm IST

There is a buzz in the smart class room at GKD Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Perianaikenpalayam. Forty five students from class V listen attentively as their teacher, Amutha V tells them about road safety.

“Today’s session is on pedestrians, zebra crossing, traffic lights and crossing a road.” She discusses each topic and children raise their hands eager to answer the occasional questions she asks. This is a part of Kutty Cop, an initiative by Uyir, an NGO to make roads safe in the city.

“After the introductory lesson last week, our students painted navigation signs on school corridors. I think that they feel responsible and powerful when they are addressed as a Kutty Cop,” says Prasanna Radhakrishnan, executive secretary of the school.

Kutty Cop was launched in October. “Over 1,80,000 people die in road accidents every year in our country. We want to make a difference. A child that is aware of the traffic rules will be a responsible citizen. They will also bring in awareness to their parents. We have now tied up with 40 schools in the city,” says Dr S Rajasekaran, managing trustee of Uyir. The activities are based on a manual written by Prasanna and Archana Dange, CEO of Anand Deep Enterprises. “They have many years of experience in the field of education,” says Rajasekaran.

The Kutty Cop manual is a handy guide for teachers. Last month, a training session was organised for teachers from various schools. “The ones who are trained will coordinate and train other teachers. Schools have already started working with children,” he adds.

The Kutty Cop programme is for classes III to VIII. “We have two books — one for classes III to V and another one for VI to VIII. We made five drafts before finalising the content,” says Archana. While the manual for the younger classes includes activities like drawing and colouring, the one for the older children has skits and slogan writing. “The book is simple to follow ,” adds Prasanna.

The children are urged tomonitor their parents and school bus drivers.“They will make a report card based on factors like usage of helmets and seat belts, and following speed limit and many more. The drivers who follow the rules will be honoured at the school assembly,” says Prasanna. The duo says that the book is more like a trial run. “We collect feedback from children, teachers and parents and plan to incorporate them in the future editions. We can’t wait to see the results,” smiles Archana.

To know more, visit: www.uyir.org

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