Road Safety Education Kicks Off in Primary in 2013

A workshop was held during the week to train the educators who will be teaching the subject as from next year.

In line with the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020), the Government of Mauritius is committed to promoting road safety consciousness in its citizens and to gradually eliminate their vulnerability to road hazards. The Ministry of Education, as a major stakeholder, has been assigned the role and responsibility to promote effective road safety education in schools and assist in the lifelong education of road users.

In this context, the Ministry of Education and Human Resources in collaboration with the Special Road Safety Unit (SRSU) of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) organised a ‘Training of Trainers’ programme on Road Safety from 14 to 16 November 2012 at the MITD Lecture Theatre, Phoenix.

This training programme will be a prelude to the introduction of Road Safety in the primary school curriculum as a cross-cutting theme in the different subjects as from 2013. In this regard, several sensitisation campaigns have already been held in both primary and secondary educational institutions and relevant CDs, leaflets and posters were made available to inculcate the basic concepts of road safety in the school community. The objectives of the training programme are to understand Road Safety Education and define its role and to inculcate and promote Road Safety Education.

Participants included some 30 educators (Primary) representing the four Educational Zones, representatives from relevant Parastatal Organisations of the Ministry (ECCEA, PSSA, MIE, MITD) as well as representatives from the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, National Development Unit, Land Transport and Shipping and the Mauritius Police Force.