THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As the first step towards integrating road safety lessons in the school curriculum, Kerala Road Safety Authority (KRSA), National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC) and State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) have jointly published a handbook on road safety for teachers
‘Surakshithayatra’, published with an aim to inculcate the habit of following traffic rules among students from primary class, was released by transport minister A K Saseendran recently.
“The integration of road safety rules in school syllabus has been a long-term project and it is being implemented now. The handbook for teachers is just the beginning of this initiative, which is the first ever attempt in the country. Next, mapping will be conducted on how to include the lessons in the school textbooks, as the lessons has to be different for each standard based on their class level.
For example, road safety rules can be included in social science and first aid can be part of biology,” said Rajagopal K, director, communication and public relations, Kerala Road Safety Authority. “There have been enquiries from the Centre about the handbook and we are planning to translate it to English,” he added.
The 110-page book, which begins with a note to teachers, consists of details related to safety of motorists, passengers and pedestrians, traffic rules and first aid. The matter is explained with representative picture and there are questions and answers section and activities for teachers in the book.
Around two lakh copies of the book will be printed and distributed among school teachers across the state. The handbook will be part of vacation training classes for teachers to be held in the next academic year.
“The revision of school curriculum has started as per the directive from the Centre. Regarding the integration of road safety lessons in school textbooks, decision will have to be taken whether to include the lessons in textbooks or as a separate book for children to read,” said J Prasad, director, SCERT.
As part of the activity, road safety clubs will be formed in all government schools after school reopens in the next academic year. “Road safety lessons are likely to be introduced in the curriculum in 2021-22 academic year. Road safety is a matter to be dealt at the grassroot level and integrating it in the school syllabus is the apt way to reduce the number of accidents. There are notes and pamphlets on traffic rules, but it is the first time that a detailed book for school is published. It is proposed to start the training programme for teachers in schools located near national highway and state highway for the safety of students,” said an official from SCERT.
Source: Times Of India
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