The EASST Road Safety Education Pack goes online in Azerbaijan
The COVID-19 pandemic has called on our EASST partners to innovate and adapt they way that they deliver road safety education.
In Azerbaijan, like many other countries, many children have been continuing their schooling online as schools have closed down and home-schooling becomes the norm. Our EASST Road Safety Education Pack has proven a useful resource for parents and teachers, going beyond road safety messaging and developing skills such as art and creativity, critical thinking, reading and comprehension, and role play.
Since lockdown began in Azerbaijan, the National Automobile Club of Azerbaijan (AMAK) has taken its road safety education online. Using the EASST Road Safety Education Pack, they are offering free interactive online awareness sessions on road safety to children of all ages in three languages: Azerbaijani, Russian and English. They first started advertising on social media and via their Club members, and are now receiving requests from teachers and schools who are delivering online lessons.
The sessions are built around informing children about the importance of road safety, different elements of safety in cars such as seat belts, child car seats, as well as how to use pedestrian crossings, and other essential topics such as visibility. AMAK is using educational videos and open discussion with the children to find out what they think about road safety, and how to make safer choices when using the roads.
Keeping safe on the road is a vital life skill. As a global partner of the Child Health Initiative EASST aims to ensure a safe and healthy journey to and from school for every child by 2030 as part of their right to receive an education, breathe clean air and travel safely. Children’s road safety education plays a vital role as part of an overall strategy for reducing road risk. Children are also able to take road safety lessons home to parents and influence their decisions and family habits.
AMAK’s aim is to keep children updated and informed about the seriousness of the road safety matters so that when they are back to their ‘normal lives’, they are ready to use the roads responsibly. The AMAK team is also planning to continue to provide free online sessions and during the summer, they plan to organise summer school for children aged between 6 and 12.
