New Delhi: India chapter of the International Road Federation (IRF) in league with the union ministry of education launched a National Road Safety Mission for Schools (NRSM) to ensure safe mobility for students near school and educational zones.
“Road safety has emerged as one of the most critical public concerns in India, particularly with the growing number of accidents involving children near schools and educational zones as about 12,000 children die near school zones annually in the country. Ensuring safe mobility for students and fostering a culture of responsible road use among young citizens has become an urgent national priority. In this context, a dedicated mission focusing on schools will play a vital role in shaping safer road behavior and promoting community-driven safety initiatives.” Said Ms Anu Jain, Director, Union Ministry of Education while launching the National Road Safety Mission for Schools .
“In India, road safety is a major concern as annually nearly 1.73 lakh lives are lost. Nearly 7-8 percent of these fatalities take place near unsafe school zones, underscoring road safety as a significant societal concern. Over 80% of these accidents are preventable . In a proactive effort to tackle this issue, the National Road Safety Mission for Schools initiative will help cultivate a culture of road safety in our society from an early age and make school zones safer. Thus making each child’s journey to school safer “ Ms Jain said.
“Some of the activities being put in place under the initiative launched in league with Academia Axis Edutech, a non government body, will include advocating for the inclusion of a uniformed road safety syllabi in school curricula. Conducting safety audits of school zones based on Indian Road Congress (IRC) -32 standards, ranking them in a public portal for awareness, and simultaneously providing capacity-building through online training for conducting these audits. Collaborating with schools and local authorities to improve school zones through road markings, signage, pedestrian crossings, speed reduction measures, and footpaths. “ said Mr K K Kapila, President Emeritus, International Road Federation (IRF) .
“Promoting road safety awareness among children through creative activities, such as plays, quizzes, skits, drawing competitions, cartoons, and stories. IRF-IC’s methodology will equip schools with unique login IDs for comprehensive road safety zone information, improving safety standard enforcement. In its pilot phase under the Ministry of Education , IRF India-Chapter has audited 10 schools each in Five states across the nation including Assam, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and five schools in New Delhi.” Said Mr. Akhilesh Srivastava, President, India chapter of IRF.
Others who were present on the occasion included Mr Amit Yadav, CEO, Academia Axis Edutech, Prof, Manoranjan Parida, Director, CRRI, Mr Swatantra Kumar, GM, 3M India Limited, Dr Mridul Bhasin, Trustee, Muskaan Foundation, Dr Sneha Nalla, Director, Nalla Malla Foundation, and Mr Dhiraj Prkash Sethi, Cube Highways Technologies.
