In Ukraine in 2011 a high number of registered road accidents involved pedestrians, including children. In response to this, EASST’s partner Road Safety Support Foundation Ukraine (RSSF) held a series of events in Odessa during 6-8th September dedicated to road safety education for children, focusing on child safety and other issues regarding their behaviour on the road. EASST partners from Armenia and Moldova were invited as guest speakers to share their successful experience in this key area of road safety.
RSSF organized a round table on “Integration of road safety education into the existing curriculum” (pictured above) attended by local decision makers from the Road Police, Education Departments for the city and oblast, NGOs, driving schools, media, and others. The participants discussed the integration of road safety education within existing school subjects, the partnership approach to child education, and best international practices in road safety education. A press conference was held after the round table.
RSSF initiatives were greatly supported by the Road Police in the Odessa region. Therefore, in collaboration with the Road Police, media and active participation of school children a joint action was organized to re-new a pedestrian crossing marking near one of the schools in Odessa. Road police officers stopped drivers and gave a talk on pedestrian safety whilst the children gave them leaflets (pictured left).
On 7th September a workshop on “Imparting road safety education for school children through existing curriculum” took place in gymnasium #2. Forty people, including teachers, school education professionals, parents and volunteer students attended the workshop lead by EASST partners Poghos Shahinyan from the National Road Safety Council Armenia and Tatiana Mihailova from the Automobile Club of Moldova. It is proposed to promote a similar trial schools campaign throughout the country.
The events in Odessa organized by RSSF received intense media coverage and were aired on a number of local channels:
http://chornomorka.com/archive/a-1281.html
http://atv.odessa.ua/news/2012/09/06/deti_risuyut_dorojnuyu_zebru_4430.html
http://odessa.umvd.gov.ua/uk/news/uvaga-diti-na-dorozi-0
http://sai.odessa.ua/Default.aspx?tabid=193#/Portals/0/Foto/Deti_082012/P9064558.JPG
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9C3H9pIlNk&feature=plcp
