ROAD safety education among children, especially primary school pupils, has been identified as crucial in helping them to avoid and protect themselves from road accidents.
That was said yesterday at Makuburi Primary School in Dar es Salaam by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Deus Sokoni, during an occasion to receive 70 desks for the school, provided by the Total Energies Foundation under the project "Global Road Safety Education via a New Generation."
"When we provide education to school children, who are a vulnerable group in road accidents, we give them crucial education on the proper use of roads and in turn, they will teach their peers," said SSP Sokoni.
He emphasized that teachers should also be educated and taught how to instruct children on the proper and safe use of roads and road safety to help children avoid accidents.
"It is a good move that the Tanzania Education Authority (TEA), by reviewing its curriculum for early and primary education, has been able to add road safety lessons to the curriculum to prepare children early," SSP Sokoni added.
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The Headteacher of Makuburi Primary, Mr Mohamed Athuman expressed gratitude for the desks' donation, which he said, will solve the problem of students sitting on the floor due to desk shortages.
"This donation has been a great relief for us because we had shortage of desks, which forced some students to sit on the floor," said Mr Athuman.
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He attributed their success in the global road safety education programme to the strong commitment by pupils to learn and teachers to guide them effectively.
"Nationally, we were first in this programme in 2023, and in Africa, we were sixth. However, we believe that in 2024, we will be first both nationally and in Africa," Mr Athuman added.
Speaking on behalf of Total Energies, Ms Getrude Mpangile, Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs, said that the programme aims to educate primary school pupils on safe road usage.
"Children have been major victims of road accidents, and this is the reason for initiating this programme. We are collaborating with the traffic police to provide them with prerequisite education on the proper use of roads and how to avoid accidents," said Ms Mpangile.
She noted that over the past two years, 16,000 pupils have benefited from the programme, and in phase three, they aim to reach out to 6,000 pupils from public schools in Dar es Salaam.
Furthermore, Ms Mwafatma Mohamed Yusuph, Acting Manager of Education Support from TEA, welcomed more stakeholders to support the need for public schools to have a conducive environment for pupils to study.
