Georgetown: The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), in collaboration with the Government of Guyana, through the Public Works and Education Ministries, has commissioned an international consultancy firm – TRL, to strengthen road safety in the curriculum and increase knowledge, skills and understanding among children and young people.
TRL, the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory commissioned to undertake the programme, has conducted a review of existing road safety delivery in schools and created a baseline of data by which to monitor performance over the next two years.
According to an Education Ministry release, following the completion of the review, TRL has commenced two one-day interactive training workshops for road safety education stakeholders along the West Coast Demerara Road Improvement Corridor. These training sessions are being held at the Leonora Secondary School, West Coast Demerara. The focus of the workshops is to build capacity among all road safety education stakeholders in preparation for a pilot project that will conclude in April 2016.If successful, the school road safety education programme will be implemented across the country.
The release stated that the Guyana National Road Safety Council (GNRSC) currently leads road safety education in schools. Activities usually focus on ‘Back-to-School’ media campaigns and the training of students and teachers through the school safety patrol programme. Best practice recommends that road safety topics should be provided on a regular basis in the curriculum for the duration of a child’s academic tenure. Teaching should, therefore, reinforce existing concepts and introduce new skills as children develop. Good quality teaching materials and resources should be used to support the curriculum and ensure a standardised approach across the country.
Implementation of this school road safety education programme will be coordinated by the Education Ministry. The Ministry will be supported in delivering the programme by schools and teachers, the Guyana Police Force, the Cyril Potter College of Education, and the GNRSC.
While TRL will advise on road safety good practices, the training workshops allow teachers, traffic Police, GNRSC and stakeholders within the Education Ministry, to play an active role in the development of a road safety education programme that is appropriate for schools in Guyana. Participants will assist in identifying where road safety can be integrated into existing curriculum subjects. Once this is established, participants will begin the process of developing materials and resources that can be used to effectively raise awareness among students of the most prevalent safety issues affecting their age group.
Further training will be provided in March 2015 before the implementation of the pilot programme. TRL will monitor changes in the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of students towards road safety as a measure of the success of the pilot programme before making any necessary amendments to support national implementation.
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