FRSC wants road safety included in primary, secondary schools’ curricula

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says it has begun collaboration with relevant authorities for the inclusion of road safety as a subject in the nation’s primary and post-primary schools’ curricula.

The Assistant Corps Commander in charge of Surulere Unit, Lagos, Mr Simeon Oguntayo, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday on the sideline of a quiz competition organised by FRSC in commemoration of the 2016 Children’s Day.

Questions on road safety issues were administered to selected primary and secondary schools’ pupils and students.

Oguntayo said the corps had begun moves for road safety to be taught at foundation levels.

He said road safety awareness in the country would increase if teens were taught how to avoid accidents and crashes right from their childhood.

This quiz competition to test the knowledge of these students is part of our awareness programme and advocacy to improve road safety in the country.
The focus of the competition is to evaluate the level of understanding of road safety issues among the young ones in our society.

And no better day than on the celebration of Children’s Day will such advocacy be far reaching,’’ he said.

The commander said it was auspicious for the FRSC to associate with children who were a considerable part of the road users in the nation.

A policy that focuses on catching minds young is likely to yield results in the future.

Programmes like this will also be a source to expose areas that knowledge dissemination on safety of lives on the roads and entrenching a safe and healthy environment,’’ he said.

The corps commander told NAN that the day’s event would serve as feedback mechanism to the FRSC authorities on other areas of collaboration with educators to improve road safety culture.

He added that the FRSC was investing heavily on its “catch them young“ programmes so as to ultimately to eradicate road crashes and accidents on Nigerian roads.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Coker Aguda Local Council Development Area in Lagos, Mrs Olatokunbo Ajala-Ekundayo, has commended the FRSC for organising the competition.

Programmes like this go a long way to help eradicate the ills of the society as well as to make people know that government is working,’’ she told NAN.

She said the safety of children was a prime obligation of every public institution in the country.