Road accidents claim thousands of lives every year and 52.6% of fatalities are observed in the age group between 25-35 years. This data reveals the gravity of the situation and emphasises the importance of road safety education at a young age. In this context, with an aim to imbibe the importance of road safety from childhood through a practical approach, the Greater Chennai Traffic Police (GCTP) along with the Centre of Excellence for Road Safety (CoERS) at IIT Madras conducted a workshop on February 6, 2024 for the stakeholders who would play a key role in educating the future drivers and road users.
This Capacity Building workshop for the Master Trainers focussed primarily on training school teachers, traffic wardens and traffic police officials with engaging activities that can aid in creating awareness among school students. The workshop had two sessions – a theory session and a practical session. The theory session dealt with causal factors of road accidents, traffic control devices, and offences and regulations involved in road safety while the practical session focussed on ABL – Activity-Based Learning. It involved various activities for the participants based on the theme of road safety like Crossword, Jigsaw Puzzle, Painting, Role Play/Skit and Road Mat. The hands-on practical session helped the participants to grasp the importance of Activity Based Learning in enhancing the pedagogy.
Following the activity session, the participants shared their opinions regarding the activities and learnings and also put forth suggestions for improvement. The workshop concluded with a valedictory session where certificates were distributed to the participants for completing the workshop.