With the aim to bring down the number of road accidents in the city and spread awareness about road safety among young children, the Traffic Training Institute in Byculla has written to schools across the city asking them to introduce the subject of Road Safety Patrol (RSP) in their curriculum and adjust their timetable accordingly. For the subject, the traffic department has designed a three-year course syllabus from class 5 to class 9, on the completion of which a certificate will be given to students as well.
The department has also asked other zonal traffic departments to take stock of how many schools in their jurisdiction have already introduced RSP as a subject. Schools that have introduced the subject in their curriculum are visited by officials from the traffic department who teach the syllabus to the students. Lessons in the subject include topics such as signals, safety measures on roads, traffic signs and symbols, and precautions to be taken while crossing the road, among others.
The schools have been requested to depute a teacher for the subject and intimate the department's office about the developments by the third week of June. Schools that have already introduced the subject have been invited to participate in a training programme of two days.
An official from the Traffic Training Institute's education department said, "The traffic department's syllabus has not yet been approved by the state education department and the books for the subject haven't been introduced in the market which is why the subject is being taught only in grade 9 and 10 and books by private publishers are being used in schools. We want all schools to take up this subject for an accident-free city."
According to the department, letters were also sent to colleges to encourage their National Service Scheme (NSS) and National Cadet Corps (NCC) students to take up this subject.
Amitesh Kumar, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said, "The circular is basically to popularise RSP among schools so that students are sensitised to traffic rules and regulations, and it brings about a basic behavioral change in people to follow traffic rules."
Despite repeated attempts, the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic) and Vice Principal of Traffic Training Institute Pankaj Shirsat remained unavailable for comments.
