KOCHI: It is not everyday that you get to see school students at the signal, all ready with batons to direct two-wheelers and pedestrians among the din and bustle of traffic. Vouching on the need for road safety and awareness on the same, students of St Mary’s Higher Secondary School, Pattom, are also doing their part to help. As part of the road safety awareness campaign by National Transportation Planning and Research Centre, two students Sameera and Mohammed Sahwan recently became the first two students from the school to be appointed as junior traffic police officers.
The school had already provided training to around 114 students as part of the road safety and awareness campaign. With Sameera and Muhammed becoming the first two students to be appointed last Monday, two students will be assisting the traffic police every day in the busy traffic signal next to the school. “It is going to be a continuous process which will go on for the rest of the academic year, and the next year too. The aim is to create an awareness on road safety among the students.”
The initiative is part of a recent road safety awareness campaign organised by NATPAC, with the first organisation initiative being organised in the school. According to the findings by NATPAC, the block experience at the signal near the school premises during the peak time ends up affecting the flow of traffic to a radius of five kilometres in the area. School students have a major role in spreading the awareness on safety, said NATPAC consultant and former police superintendent T V Satheesh. Not just the main roads but also the smaller ones get affected due to the traffic, affirms one of the teachers. Traffic Police Assistant Commissioner M K Zulfiqer inaugurated the campaign at an event which was presided over by the school HM Asha Annie George.