Supporting teachers to lead and deliver better road safety education
This year’s UN Global Road Safety Week focuses on the role of leadership in road safety. Road safety leadership comes in many forms. This includes teaching children how to keep themselves safe on the road. That’s why we’re marking this week by celebrating the vital role that teachers and education providers have to play by launching our free online guide on how to use the EASST Road Safety Education Pack. A safe and healthy journey to and from school is part of every child’s right to receive an education, breathe clean air and travel safely. We want to give teachers the capacity and resources they need to lead effective road safety lessons and help children get the start in life that they deserve.
Through our work we found that prior to 2014, the road safety educational materials typically used in EASST partner countries focused largely on teaching children ‘the rules of the road’ i.e. speed limits, recognising street signs, and knowing the law. In almost every country, the materials produced were the same whether the child was 5 or 15 years old, and relied on memorisation rather than engagement with the issues. The EASST Road Safety Education Pack was developed as a response to this: to introduce child-centred and locally relevant teaching materials that both children and teachers can enjoy.
The EASST Road Safety Education Pack is a free, global teaching resource that provides stimulating and engaging activities to introduce road safety messages and behaviours to kids. The pack has been developed in co-operation with EASST partners as well as UK and international road safety experts, including the UK Government’s Think! Campaign, the charity Brake, and YOURS (Youth for Road Safety). It has been specifically tailored to reflect the risks, challenges, and conditions in low and middle-income countries in an age-appropriate way.
The topics in each section of the pack vary according to age group, but they all relate to the key principles of road safety. It uses exercises and activities that are fun and engaging, taking children on a journey from being a young toddler crossing the road holding their mother’s hand, right through to being an independent young adult travelling alone or with friends.
Our EASST partners have tailored the pack for use in their countries to transform road safety education: translating it into local languages and using local names and idiom so it looks and feels like a locally-produced resource. To celebrate the leadership of teachers in delivering road safety education we have nominated Victoriya Chemelevskaya – a teacher at pre-school number 239 in Minsk, Belarus – as a UNGRSW leader. Victoriya is the first teacher to be nominated. She demonstrates how anyone can be a road safety leader when they have access to good and free road safety resources. She has championed road safety education in her community and played a central role in bringing inclusive road safety education lessons to disabled and non-disabled children for the first time as part of a project supported by EASST and implemented by the Belarusian Auto Moto Touring Club.
The EASST Road Safety Education Pack is currently available in 10 languages (not only from the EASST region), and is being translated into others. It has been used to teach over 15,000 children the basic skills of road safety as well as training teachers, police officers, parents, and others to deliver effective and relevant road safety education year after year.
To help with this process we have developed an online short-course to guide teachers and other education providers on how they can best use the pack to bring vital road safety learning to even more children globally. The course includes seven short videos in English with Russian, French and Spanish subtitles on each aspect of the pack, including an example of the pack being used in a real-life setting to train pre-school children in Minsk, Belarus. Upon completing the course and a final quiz, course participants will be awarded a certificate by EASST and EASST Academy. The course is available via our EASST Academy online road safety training platform meaning it is accessible 24/7 in every world region. Here the pack can also be downloaded in any of the 10 languages it is currently available in.
Children’s road safety education is essential as part of an overall strategy for reducing road risk. Keeping safe on the road is a vital life skill. Children are also able to take road safety lessons home to parents and influence their decisions and family habits to keep everyone safe.
To find out more or sign up to our free course visit https://easstacademy.org/how-use-easst-road-safety-education-pack
