JOIN USNow, schoolchildren to get traffic lessons
The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is planning to include road safety measures and rules in the school curriculum to create awareness among children.
Senior officials in the ministry had held talks with experts, police and human resource development ministry officials regarding this, a senior transport ministry official told Deccan Herald.
The subject might be incorporated in the social studies textbook of class VI to XII, he said.
Also, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has identified teachers who would handle the subject. “After conducting a detailed study, the CBSE will prepare the chapters and incorporate them in their text books,” the official said.
The curriculum will include road safety procedure, rules and regulations of the Motor Vehicle Act and licensing procedures. However it has not been revealed from when the textbooks will carry the new inclusions.
Auto boom
Road accidents have mounted in India, numbering 4,84,704 in 2008, 1.1 per cent higher compared to the 2007 figure. The number of road accident deaths in 2008 was 1,19860, while China had a lesser count of 73,500 despite the auto boom there.
The socio-economic cost of road accidents in India in 1999-2000 was estimated at 3 per cent of the GDP.
To contain this, the Centre introduced the National Road Safety and Traffic Management Bill in the Budget session, as per which one per cent of the government cess on diesel and petrol will go to the road safety board funds. The board will take up measures to educate road users and to ensure a friendly road design to reduce accidents.