NJAO: Integration of road safety into curriculum

Just like learning to write, read or even ride a bicycle, basic skills and proper mannerisms are best imparted early enough, so children need to learn about and practice road safety at a young age.

Educating and making children aware of road safety risks and guiding them on how to remain safe always is key to their growth.

With them being the next generation of road users, it is important to get it right from the onset by setting a foundation that enables them to anticipate hazards on the road and formulate strategies to deal with them.

Our task as the government is to facilitate the education system with the necessary materials to aid road safety learning in schools. We plan that from 2025, all children will be exposed to road safety content through formal, non-formal and informal dimensions.

To achieve this, the NTSA, in collaboration with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, is facilitating the mainstreaming of road safety content in the curriculum in addition to preparation of necessary materials for schoolchildren.

The curriculum aims to provide knowledge to understand the road environment, causes and consequences of road traffic crashes, support safe decision-making and, ultimately, enable adoption of skills that will aid children in inculcating road safety culture to survive in the road environment.

In designing the content, baseline information was collected from 31 counties with study samples being drawn from among head teachers, teachers, students, including those with special needs, parents, drivers of school vehicles, road marshals, law enforcement officers, motorists, riders and cyclists.

A comprehensive situational analysis was conducted to determine the levels of knowledge and skills on child road safety, establish the road use practices that endanger the safety of learners and suitability of available road safety content.

Additionally, the analysis was to identify strategies that different schools use to ensure road safety and find out the roles played by different members of the community in ensuring safety for learners.

Findings from the situational analysis showed that there is a considerable amount of content on child road safety available for teachers and learners, although not easily accessible and when accessible, inappropriate to learners’ level.

It also revealed that practices such as speeding, careless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol endangered the safety of learners, as well as alighting from moving vehicles. In addition, crossing the road without due care and playing on the road were some risky learner behaviours identified.

Notably, concerns regarding minimal parental involvement in ensuring the safety of learners on road use were brought out. Clearly, the role of parents/guardians is paramount in road safety management as children learn and emulate what their caregivers do.

To shape the behaviour of children, parents must therefore play their part in teaching and guiding children to make the right choices while at the same time making them aware of consequences as a complementary effort towards the learning provided in schools.

The integration of road safety into Kenya’s school curriculum is part of the overall National Road Safety Action Plan (2024-2028) that provides a five-year blueprint for road safety management in Kenya.

Covered under National Strategic Priority Number Six – the enforcement targeting unsafe behaviour and education – the inculcation of road safety in the education system will certainly be an effective way to influence behavioural aspects of children before they are licensed to drive.

Understanding road safety empowers children. By equipping them with the right knowledge, skills, competencies and attitudes at an early age, we are not just investing in them today, but also safeguarding all road users in the future as safety becomes not just a habit but a culture.

Director general, National Transport and Safety Authority