SIAM-KVS road safety online education initiative provides roadmap for Viksit Bharat: SIAM Chief

New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) The SIAM-KVS Road Safety Online Education Programme is a mega initiative in India's journey to becoming a developed nation by 2047, Executive Director of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Prashant K. Banerjee, said on Tuesday.

Speaking to IANS, Banerjee said road safety remains a major challenge in India's development and called for a generational change to address the issue.

As part of this special initiative, a road safety learning module titled ‘Surakshit Safar’ was launched at Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 2 in Delhi Cantonment.

“Our aim is to raise awareness about road safety among children at an early age. That’s why we’ve created modules covering the basics of road safety, pedestrian rules, the importance of helmets and seat belts. These primary gadgets can bring about a major transformation in safety behaviour,” Banerjee told IANS.

He further informed that the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan has already included these models in its monthly curriculum.

Explaining the modules, he told IANS that, “It’s a 40-minute course, designed in an interactive and engaging manner. For primary school children, we’ve used characters like a tortoise and a kangaroo to explain safety.”

For example, the tortoise’s hard shell is used to explain helmets, and the kangaroo’s pouch symbolises seat belts, forming a story based on a mother-child bond, he added.

“For middle and secondary school students, we are developing more advanced modules with 3D animation and relatable characters from daily life,” he told IANS.

Banerjee also said that a quiz follows the 30-minute session, where students must choose between correct and incorrect answers.

Children who perform well will receive certificates, while others will be encouraged to improve and try again.

The initiative is currently available in English and Hindi, but plans are in place to expand it to other languages in the future.

As of now, the programme is being implemented as a pilot project in Kendriya Vidyalayas. If successful, it will be extended to Navodaya schools and state-run schools across the country.

--IANS

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