AN EDUCATION official in Cebu City has agreed that road safety must be taught to students from kindergarten up to grade 12.
Cebu City School Division Superintendent Bianito Dagatan said he is willing to pursue the curriculum, but he has to wait for instructions from the Department of Education central office. Road safety education, he said, could be integrated in subjects like the Social Science, Values Education, English and Filipino. Scouting activities could also integrate road safety lessons, said Dagatan.
For his part, Barili, Cebu Vice Mayor Julie Flores, chairman of the Cebu Provincial Operators Transport Cooperative, said teaching traffic rules is advantageous as it could breed future disciplined motorists.
The recent stunt of a motorist who drove his car while sitting in the passenger seat has led to the revival of a proposal to include mandatory traffic education and road safety in the curriculum of kindergarten, elementary and senior high school students.
During the early part of the 17th Congress in 2016, Senator Grace Poe filed Senate Bill 1231, which proposes an “act integrating basic road safety and comprehensive driver’s education in the curriculum of the enhanced basic education (K-12) program.”
The bill is still pending in the committee, according to the Senate’s website.
The World Health Organization (WHO) launched in December 2018 its global status report on road safety, which stated that the annual road traffic deaths has reached 1.35 million.
“Road traffic injuries are now the leading killer of people aged 5-29 years. The burden is disproportionately borne by pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, in particular those living in developing countries,” according to the WHO.
In the Philippines, the WHO reported that road traffic deaths continue to rise with an estimated 12,690 deaths in 2016. (Chello Barellano, CNU Comm Intern)