Curriculum Developed to Promote Road Safety Among Students

Schools that are looking to inculcate a culture of responsible and safe road use among students now have a curriculum they can use as a guide.

The Road Safety Unit (RSU), through its Pedestrian Safety Committee, partnered with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Jamaica to develop an Adolescent Road Safety Education Curriculum, which provides direction for imparting road- and vehicle-safety education in schools.

The objective is to develop road users who understand the concept of safety and the role of risk mitigation in creating a safe road environment for themselves and other road users.

“We had a consultant [who] developed a curriculum, with consultation from the Committee. We looked at the topics that we discussed in schools and the consultant saw how best he could add those to the curriculum,” Education and Information Officer at the RSU, Dontae Matthews, tells JIS News.

“That curriculum was vetted and approved, and it’s a curriculum that can be used at any school that wants to have road-safety talks with their students, if they want to form a road-safety club or want to just have that programme where they can teach students from as early as possible,” he notes.

Mr. Matthews says the initiative, which is facilitated through the Learner Driver Education Programme, aims to teach life skills and have students properly prepared to use the nation’s roads as drivers or simply being pedestrians.

“The Learner Driver Education Programme seeks to fill that gap, where students leave high school not knowing anything about driving. A lot of the driving schools these days… are teaching the students to just pass the test, but not to be good drivers,” he points out.

“So, they’re just teaching them to get the licence and that’s it. But what happens when you get the licence? How do you operate on the road? How do you drive defensively? How do you ensure that you look out for hazards? How do you ensure that you understand the road signs and markings, understand proper overtaking, and how to check for pedestrians on the road? These things are very important,” he outlines.

Topics covered in the curriculum include the types of road users, and the three types of collisions that happen in a car crash, namely vehicle collision, human collision, and the internal collision.

“We’re also looking at the effects of drunk driving. We look at defensive driving theory and we are looking at signs and markings. We look at the learner’s permit application and use of the permit.

We also look at speed limits… motorcycle safety and so much more,” Mr. Matthews says.

On completion of the programme, participants should be able to understand basic concepts, principles and approaches used in road safety; demonstrate the ability to conduct a risk assessment and to make well-informed decisions that promote road safety for passengers, other road users and self; and demonstrate adequate knowledge of the Road Code, how motorised vehicles operate and the risks caused by their improper and unsafe operation.

Participants should also understand the effects of alcohol and other drugs, distractions, and the effects of peer pressure on driver skills and behaviour; develop the ability to apply safe driving methods to the driving task; and demonstrate preventative strategies in accordance with worldwide best practices and the Jamaican road traffic laws and regulations.

Meanwhile, Mr. Matthews says the Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams, is willing to have the programme within schools.

“She actually wants to have a meeting and to officially have that programme launched in every school or to have it as a standard programme. But she did express that she would love for the other schools to have it,” he says.

“It’s just a conversation that needs to be had, so that we can have it rolled out fully. But until then, when the schools reach out to us, we still send it to them. The teachers love the idea; some of them are currently using the [Jamaican Driver’s Guide Road Code Edition] book or just the HEART/NSTA programme, or are just teaching regular mechanics,” Mr. Matthews adds.

He emphasises that the aim is to ensure that students are not just learning the mechanics or driving but also “we want to ensure that they understand the theoretical aspect as well”.