The Automobile Club of Moldova, with EASST funding and in partnership with the REPEMOL project and the National Patrol Inspectorate organized a sample road safety lesson for primary school teachers, to demonstrate just how engaging and informative they can be about this crucial subject.
The school in question was “Universul” Lyceum of Chisinau, and the sample lesson was full of interactive activities, practical ideas, games and road traffic situations that teachers can use in future road safety classes, to keep the pupils engaged in the topic. The organizers demonstrated how an apparently boring lesson can become very effective, interactive and exciting.
The pupils participated in quizzes, drawing and role playing activities. At the end of the lesson all pupils received gifts from the organizers; reflectors, vests, pencils, copy books and other school stationery.
The sample lesson took place under the pilot intervention project ‘Safe to School – Safe to Home’, which is aimed at reducing the number of child deaths and injuries, caused by the road accidents while travelling to and from school. The project is being undertaken within the Road Safety Awareness Campaign, in partnership with the TRACECA Road Safety Project II and funded by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile.
Previous meetings and workshops were organized for teachers, parents and pupils. There were a lot of road safety issues discussed, specific to the area where the school is located, as well as road accidents preventative measures. Pupils, parents and teachers all collaborated to develop a map with the route from school to home in order to identify all road traffic risk factors and the methods to avoid them.
Recent figures and feedback from other European countries show that sustainable road safety education can significantly reduce the number of road traffic deaths among children. A prominent example of this is Norway, where, in 2015, there were no child fatalities as a result of a car accident. It is believed that improved safety gear and the good road safety advocacy contributed to this hugely positive and encouraging development.
