Educate children on road safety

Mr Emmanuel Opare, the Deputy Director of the Basic Education Division, has urged all basic schools  to  ensure that all schoolchildren receive periodic education on road safety.

He was speaking at the launch of the Access Bank Road Safety Campaign at the Kanda Cluster of Schools which was dubbed “protect and save on our roads”.

Painting a gloomy picture of the spate of accidents in the country, he said  “each day we have cases of children getting involved in accidents on our roads pointing out that the 0 to15 years age group constitutes 25 per cent  of the total road  fatalities in the country.

Mr Opare said majority of the children in this group are killed as pedestrians while crossing the road”.

As part of the  road safety campaign, a road safety club was formed at the Kanda Cluster of Schools to promote the safety of students and pupils who use the road, especially during their journeys to and from school each day. 

The  Kanda Cluster of Schools was chosen for the launch of the  campaign because it constitutes one of the major public schools along the busy Ring Road  where children often commute which, therefore, exposes them to accidents.

He said ensuring, “safety on our roads cannot be done by the government alone because everyone has a part to play. Students, teachers, parents and motorists must use the pedestrian crossing on the roads”.

A  quiz on road safety  was organised  among  Kanda 3&5, Kanda Ring Road, Kanda A.M.A and Kanda 1 as part of the launch.   At the end of the  competition Kanda A.M.A won by 32 points.

The headteacher of the cluster of schools , Mrs Doris Owusu, reported that the schools had recorded 10 deaths last year but  now  the National Road Safety Commission was helping in many  ways to ensure the safe use of the roads by the schoolchildren.  

The Access Bank together with  the  National Road Safety Commission has also refurbished  the  school’s computer laboratory and provided it with 25 new computers.